We especially oppose any proposal to fund parking via the general rate according to land or capital value, as this would mean that some ratepayers will pay much more than others depending on their property value, regardless of actual parking use.
There is little evidence that free parking will boost spending at independent retailers as claimed, which was discovered by Lower Hutt's city council in 2016.
Despite a trial of a 'first-hour free' parking scheme, expenditure with retailers in the Hutt central city grew at a significantly lower rate than all its regional competitors during the trial period, as measured by data from credit card and eftpos sales.
Hutt City Council attempted to recover some of the estimated $925,000 lost revenue costs from parking meters by increasing parking fees for other areas of the city, and had considered a rate on commercial businesses and residential ratepayers.
Car parkers ended up moving away from a council carpark where the fee was increased to Queensgate Mall's free parking, straight into the arms of the mega-retailer.
Federated Farmers considers that it is not a council's role to get involved in business competition in any case.
Rhea Dasent is a senior policy adviser for Federated Farmers.