Parking is a big issue for suburban business owners who hope town planners will take
their concerns on board at a national conference this month. Joanna Davies reports.
Cars stream through the Sandringham shopping centre, passing spice shops, vegetable markets and Asian restaurants.
Along Sandringham Rd, drivers often pull over and park along the yellow lines, leaving their cars for a moment to pick up some milk on their way through the centre.
This strip of road all used to be parking.
Several years ago, the former Auckland City Council painted yellow lines along one side of the road, and shopkeeper Amar Jit Singh says his business has suffered since.
"For me and my customers it was a very bad decision," Mr Singh says.
"At the time we were never informed, and it is harder for the elderly who would park outside to come to the shop."
From outside his Khyber Spice Market store, he watches as people park illegally. "Most of them get fined and it has had a huge financial impact on my business."
It's a classic case of what will be discussed at a national conference this month.
The Town Centre Development Group is hoping better collaboration will improve town centre planning around Auckland, and next week's conference will get councils, business associations and planners to work together.
Conference organiser Karen Remetis believes better communication between the groups will bring better results for the community.
"You can't approach town centre planning from one perspective.
"It requires a multi-disciplinary approach and that is the best way to ensure the economic development of a centre."
The conference, in Wellington on June 28 and 29, will also cover communication with non-English speakers, natural disaster planning and crime prevention.
Dennis Burns is the keynote speaker.
He has managed more than 300 parking studies in the United States and is a certified administrator of public parking, recognition given by the International Parking Institute.
He says one obvious way town centres can grow in Auckland is by managing parking spaces better.
"Many town centres in America have begun to realise the importance of parking as it relates to community and economic development.
"This relationship is taking many forms. In some of the more progressive and successful examples, organisations that manage downtown districts are beginning to manage public parking as a tool for town centre revitalisation," he says.
"Strategies can involve public-private partnerships in which public agencies collaborate with private sector developers to create additional public parking facilities, as part of a new mixed-use development.
"This is in contrast to a public entity alone building a large carpark based on a traditional facilities development programme," says Mr Burns.
Panmure town centre manager Chris Sutton is attending the conference and hopes to get new ideas to manage the parking in her neck of the woods.
"We are in an unusual situation because we have too much parking, but some of it is very difficult to get to," she says.
"I'm hoping to find out how we can make better use of this space - it's a great place to exchange ideas and meet people who I ordinarily wouldn't come across and talk about ways forward for our centres."
Get it together
The Town and Cities NZ Confer-ence is at Rydges Wellington, June 28-29. For more info and to register, email Karen Remetis: karen@towncentredevelopment.co.nz
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