Former Queenstown mayoress Lorraine Cooper says people are no longer coming into the town’s centre, and she’s blaming it on the lack of parking.
In a strong criticism of Queenstown council’s parking policy, Cooper says the whole CBD, following recent street upgrades, has been turned into a pedestrian mall.
‘‘How many carparks have been done away with?
“My guess is over 200 — and more to come as other streets are lined up for upgrades.
‘‘The council’s main aim is to get more vehicles off the road and encourage more people to use other modes of transport — to bike, scooter, bus or walk.’’
But, she points out, workers servicing the CBD in shift hours can’t catch public transport, and who’s going to bike home on a wet winter’s night, she asks.
‘‘What about the mums and dads whose children have extracurricular activities outside school hours?
‘‘What about the elderly who are long past riding their bikes or scooters or find public transport difficult to access?’’
Cooper asks where visitors can park to take an Earnslaw or gondola trip or patronise a restaurant.
‘‘Why can’t we take a leaf out of Switzerland’s Zermatt’s book and bring in park-and-ride?’’
Concerned the CBD could “wither and die”: Ex-mayoress Lorraine Cooper
She suggests Warren Park, on Gorge Rd, is a large expanse of ground that could be turned into a park-and-ride tomorrow.
Or, looking at the huge former Stanley St carpark that’s been ‘‘commandeered by the ‘shovel-ready’ gang’’ as a construction lay-down area, ‘‘they have been there long enough’’, she says.
‘‘Friends I speak to that live outside the CBD say ‘we never come into Queenstown, it’s too hard to find a park’.’’
Mayor Glyn Lewers couldn’t be reached for comment, however his council’s started consulting on a draft parking strategy.
It aims to ‘‘establish objectives about what we want to achieve and principles to guide decisions on how parking will be allocated and prioritised in the future’’.
Cooper quotes from council’s article on the strategy in its latest Scuttlebutt newsletter: ‘‘… parking should easy to find and stress free’’.
She comments: ‘‘I agree wholeheartedly, and unless something is done urgently to find areas for carparking close to or in the CBD, fewer and fewer people will want to come into Queenstown.
‘‘Do we want to see the CBD just wither and die?’’
