Skyrocketing parking charges expected to bring in an extra $822,000 stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
In a bid to cut operating costs the council is also proposing to reduce library hours, permanently shut the mobile library and close the Akaroa and Lyttelton service centres, as well as the Riccarton Rd bus lounges. Cr James Gough, co-chair of the council’s city momentum committee, said increasing parking charges was “illogical”, especially amid Covid-19. “Naturally I don’t think it’s conducive to welcoming people back into the central city.”
STACY SQUIRES/STUFF
The Christchurch City Council is considering changing its central city parking policy. It says there is a perception the city lacks parking, but is asking if that is really the case or a myth. (First published August 2020)
Instead, they put forward three other recommendations, which were all unanimously supported by the 16 councillors and mayor Lianne Dalziel. Most councillors said they only voted for the new recommendations because they just reiterated what the council was already doing.
STACY SQUIRES/STUFF
Donna Thomsen, owner of Copenhagen Bakery, is upset about a proposed new cycleway on Harewood Rd, which will mean on-street car parks outside her business are lost. The council decided to hold an additional information session in Bishopdale and staff would meet with key people along Harewood Rd to mitigate any design issues. Staff would also produce a range of design options to the two affected community boards to consider before a public hearings process in the second half of this year.
HAMISH MCNEILLY/STUFF
Felicia Scherrer, of the Living Wage Movement, discusses Dunedin becoming an accredited living wage council. (Video first published September 2019) CCHL is the majority shareholder in eight companies – including Lyttelton Port Company, Citycare, Christchurch International Airport and EcoCentral – but the living wage was expected to mostly affect Citycare and EcoCentral. In 2018, it was estimated about 130 employees across the CCHL group would be eligible for the living wage. It would only apply to direct employees, not contractors. Living Wage Aotearoa chairwoman Gina Lockyer said employers needed to think about their workers when promises were not kept. “When a council makes a decision or a commitment, it’s the low paid workers being impacted.”