Mainstreet Tauranga has come up with a logical solution to the endless debate about whether parking charges are putting people off shopping in the city's town centre.
It has proposed a minimum three-month free parking trial to settle the issue once and for all.
A group of downtown retailers, led by Bill Campbell of Fancy That, has been advocating free parking for several years, believing the cost of parking was a deterrent to shoppers in the CBD who had free parking in other shopping centres.
The council still has to agree to carry out the trial, which is expected to cost it $375,000 to $400,000 in lost revenue.
It is a costly exercise but one that needs to be carried out.