Ethan Watene has taken matters into his own hands in light of council's recent decision to remove Tauranga CBD's free parking, by creating a petition to support parking for Tauranga City workers.

Earlier this month, Tauranga City Council announced that the free on-street parking in Tauranga CBD will cease from the beginning of December as part of council's Parking Management Plan. The changes will involve the free two-hour parking, shifting to $1 per hour for the first two hours, then $5 per subsequent hour from 8am-6pm Monday to Saturday.

Ethan is among a number of CBD workers opposed to this decision has more than 180 of town worker's signatures for his petition so far. 'My main goal is for the workers of the town to be able to get an annual pass to say that they work in town,” says Ethan. 'We should be getting a discounted price at minimum because it's too expensive to come to work every day.”

Daily struggle

As a hospitality worker at The Barrel Room Ethan starts his work day at 11am and parks at The Strand carpark, paying $55 each week. 'I can't find anything in the on-street parking because it's always gone at about 7.30am,” says Ethan.

Part of council's decision is to free up parking spaces for customers and increase carpark turnover. 'At the moment, parking is being over-utilised by workers who tend to park in the area all day, at the expense of people visiting the city centre for retail or other short-term purposes,” says Commission Chair Anne Tolley in a previous statement.

Gaining signatures from around the CBD, Ethan says: 'There were only a couple of places that weren't on board because the carpark turnover would work better for their business which is understandable… but for a lot of us it's a bit of a struggle everyday – especially in my industry.”

Buses not viable

Director of transport Brendan Bisley previously stated that Tauranga is on a journey from a car-oriented past to a future that supports more sustainable transport.

'This plan is an important step towards that future, where people of all ages and abilities can move safely and freely around the city, whether they choose to travel by foot, bike, scooter, bus, or other types of vehicles,” says Brendan.

However, Ethan says that alternative transport options such as busing or biking isn't viable for a lot of city workers – particularly hospitality staff. 'The thing with the public transport is that it's quite unreliable,” says Ethan. He says Tauranga's buses can be on time, 10 minutes late or 10 minutes early. 'And for someone like me who will be here until after 11pm – there's no buses running after 11pm so how am I supposed to get home?” He also adds his concerns for personal safety for those who work late that try avoiding parking fees. 'If you park 1km away from your place of work and are walking the streets late at as a female, male or other, there is always a risk of having to interact with potentially dangerous people.”

Worker's parking building

Another purpose of his petition is to encourage council to consider establishing a central carpark designated for CBD workers. He says he believes this would 'work wonders for everyone.” 'I think it [a worker's carpark] would increase the amount of free parking spaces in town for customers, and workers will have a consistent parking space.”

Ethan says: 'Adding more money and adding bigger fines isn't really going to stop the issue of freeing up parking.

'I just want the city to be more alive,” says Ethan. 'I've been working in town for the past six months and I remember five or six years ago the town was just pumping with people… even now it's just dying out and feels like a ghost town a lot of the time.” He says at The Barrel Room they don't get customers coming in for lunches but get a lot coming in for dinner. 'How can we combat that? I think a lot of that comes down to the parking situation as well.”

Overall Ethan says he hopes the council, 'focuses on how we can find a solution for this situation …and work with us rather than against us”.

The parking fee changes will take place on December 1 in the areas between Harington St and Second Ave from Cameron Rd to The Strand and Tauranga Waterfront. From February 1, 2023, on-street parking charges will be $2 per hour for the first two hours.