Tauranga businesses have slated paid parking around the CBD, with one restaurant owner saying it would “kill all the businesses”.

The comments were made at a Downtown Tauranga meeting where businesses shared their concerns about parking with Tauranga City Council.

About 25 CBD businesses attended Thursday night’s meeting alongside council staff and councillors Rod Taylor, Glen Crowther and Kevin Schuler.

Parking in the city has been a long-standing issue, with free parking trialled in the past.

Paid on-street parking was meant to begin on August 4 in the city centre fringe between the eastern end of 4th Ave and Park St, north of the CBD.

Fees would be $1 an hour for the first two hours and $2 for every hour after until 5pm, to a maximum of $10 on weekdays.

New two-hour parking limits would also apply to some CBD-fringe streets as far south as 8th Ave.

Council parking strategy manager Reece Wilkinson told the meeting paid fringe parking would be delayed a “week or two”.

This was while the council looked at options for permits that would exempt residents in the fringe streets from parking charges, he said.

At a council meeting on July 14, councillors opted not to approve the staff recommendation of resident permits after a split vote and asked staff for more options.

At Thursday’s meeting, Satori Sushi and Sake Bar owner Lisa Wilson said after 13 years in downtown Mount Maunganui, she moved the restaurant to Tauranga two years ago and it had been a “struggle”.

Two weeks after Wilson moved to The Strand, the nearby carpark was closed to be transformed into a green space, she said.

Satori Sushi and Sake Bar owner Lisa Wilson in 2022. Photo / Talia Parker

At least twice a week the restaurant would have no-shows because people couldn’t find a convenient park, Wilson said.

She wanted two hours’ free parking for city centre shoppers and diners to entice people back to the city.

A lot of their older customers didn’t want to walk from the parking buildings because they were too far away, Wilson said.

“I want them to be able to park right in the street and come into our businesses and not have to worry about moving their cars.”

Wilson said she understood the council needed parking revenue, but it was going to “kill all the businesses”.

They had been in business for 15 years and she was “this close to just closing the doors and walking away,” she said.

The Collection gallery and gift shop owner Margaret Crowley said she had been in the CBD for 11 years.

The city used to be very busy but when paid parking came in the Mount Mainstreet got very busy and the city got quiet, she said.

She wanted equity and fairness across the shopping areas and suggested the downtown Mount, Greerton and city all have paid parking but at cheaper rates than the current CBD rates.

“So that we all bear the burden rather than the CBD, which is struggling the most, [and] which is [also] suffering a rebuild.”

Construction of the $306 million civic precinct Te Manawataki o Te Papa was under way and many other developments were being built.

Councillor Glen Crowther. Photo / David Hall

Councillor Glen Crowther said there were strong issues and feelings across Tauranga about parking.

People from Greerton, the Mount and Pāpāmoa would not support paid parking in their areas, he said.

There were tricky conversations to be had about equity, Crowther said.

It was also “quite complex” because the council needed to raise $46m from parking for the civic precinct, he said.

Crowley said if more people knew that, the parking charges might be more “palatable”.

Wanderlust NZ accommodation owner Sarah Meadows said Tauranga businesses shouldn’t have to carry the burden of funding the precinct.

Wanderlust NZ owner Sarah Meadows. Photo / George Novak

They could take up to 110 guests but currently had nine, which was the worst it had ever been, she said.

Other businesses wanted the parking to be free after 3pm as it had been previously and a better bus service with buses that ran later was also suggested.

Taylor said “I feel your pain”, because he had businesses in the city, so his workers had the same issues.

The August 4 parking price changes were designed to increase parking turnover so customers could park outside businesses, he said.

Wilkinson said the council was happy to look at data from other cities that had two hours’ free parking.

The buses were run by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, so he encouraged people to speak to them about their ideas.

Paid parking in the Tauranga city centre fringe has been delayed. Photo / John Borren

Speaking after the meeting, Liam Jackson – who lives in the CBD and manages a bar – said the delay of paid parking showed the council was listening.

“It’s really positive. They’ve [the council] realised that there are concerns from residents and businesses.”

Earlier this week, he told Local Democracy Reporting he wanted the charges paused until resident permits were sorted.

Downtown Tauranga manager Genevieve Whitson said the council showed a “great willingness” to listen to the challenges businesses faced and agreed there were lessons from the meeting that need to be pursued with urgency.

There were merits to bringing back free parking after 3pm, she said.

Wilkinson said the councillors would consider a permit solution at the council meeting on August 5.

The council would update the community after the meeting once there was clarity on when paid fringe parking would start and on any permits, he said.

The off-street pricing changes and new time-restricted areas would still begin on August 4.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.