People who live, work, or regularly park in Newtown and Berhampore are encouraged to take another look at the planned parking scheme and traffic changes (resolutions) and provide any last feedback by 1pm, Monday 19 February.
There is lots of information about the changes on our website transportprojects.org.nz/newtownparking along with a map showing the scheme boundaries and what is planned on each street.
Alternatively, people interested can come to a drop-in where the team will be able to explain the changes, show the mix of parking restrictions planned on individual streets and answer questions:
- Wednesday 7 February, 4pm–6pm at the Newtown Community Centre Te Whare Hapori o Ngā Puna Waiora, corner Rintoul Street and Colombo Street.
- Saturday 10 February, 9am–12 noon at the Newtown fruit and vegetable market, Newtown School grounds, corner Mein Street and Riddiford Street.
The scheme was approved in principle at the end of November by Kōrau Tūāpapa, Wellington City Council’s Environment and Infrastructure Committee following a first round of community consultation and feedback from more than 1150 people and organisations.
Koata Hātepe, the Council's Regulatory Processes Committee, will consider the feedback from this latest consultation and make final decisions on 4 April.
Committee Chair Councillor Sarah Free says the draft scheme prioritises residents and provides more short-stay parking for people visiting shops, businesses, and health and social services – and has already had some modifications.
“Changes to when and how the scheme will be rolled out, parking time limits, and days of operation are among the adjustments we’ve made so far in response to feedback. We considered requests and suggestions from many people and organisations including Wellington Regional Hospital, Mary Potter Hospice, University of Otago School of Medicine, several churches and other faith-based organisations, and Wellington Zoo which sought slightly longer-stay parking for visitors.”
Changes to the draft plan agreed in November include:
- making changes Monday to Friday only, rather than 7 days a week, so people will be able to park where they want for as long as they want on weekends.
- changing the proposed P120 parking spaces to P180 so people can park for up to three hours (8am to 8pm) instead of two, without a residents parking permit.
In practice, this will mean people will be able to park in the P180 spaces any time after 5pm and stay until 11am.
It’s proposed most residential streets in Newtown and Berhampore will have a mix of free parking where anyone can park for as long as they want (unrestricted), and time-limited three-hour parking. Residents with a permit will be exempt from the P180 time limit and able to park for longer in these spaces.
It’s planned the scheme will start first in the Berhampore and Newtown west zones in mid-2024. There will be a review after six months to see if further tweaks are required. The introduction of the scheme in Newtown east (the hospital side) will be delayed until mid-2025.
The bus, bike and walking improvements between Newtown and Island Bay will be complete by then, and this change will give Wellington Regional Hospital more time to implement its travel action plan, which aims to lower the percentage of staff travelling by car. It will also provide more time for the hospital to investigate ways to increase on-site parking for patients, visitors, and staff.
Wellington city has had residents parking schemes for many years in places including Mt Cook and Mt Victoria, but this is the first suburb-wide parking plan developed under the city’s new Parking Policy adopted in 2020.
As the new scheme is rolled out in Newtown and Berhampore, existing resident parking within these zones will be removed.
Cr Free encourages people to have their say on the draft scheme, including the proposed modifications.
“The 2020 Parking Policy gives clear guidance about how resident parking schemes like this one will be structured and how permits will be allocated. It also gives leeway to tailor parking plans to different communities, which is what we are doing here to find the best balance for these busy neighbourhoods.”
The parking plan will mean residents who choose to apply for a parking permit and are eligible to get one should find it easier to find parking on a street near their home. The new plan should also make it easier to find short-stay parking spaces. Households in the area will be able to apply for an allocation of visitor day passes regardless of whether they decide to apply for a resident parking permit.
Please provide feedback online if possible. If that is not an option, FreePost forms can be downloaded and printed, or contact us by phone 04 499 4444 or email newtownberhampore@wcc.govt.nz and we will post one out or find another way to help.