Years of free parking on Napier railway land which has been idle for more than 15 years awaiting possible use in a Treaty of Waitangi settlement is over.
A lessee who took over the site between Sale and Raffles Sts last month has started charging fees.
Munro Street Parking was established by Westshore-based industrial relations and accident compensation lawyer Piers Hunt, who has a lease agreement with the Crown, which owns the site.
Mainly used by inner-city workers, the site now has a fee of $3 a day, which Mr Hunt says is minimal, and is mainly to cover costs maintaining it in a condition suitable for use as a parking area.
Although it is mainly unsealed, parking spaces have been marked, and Mr Hunt, a regular user, says it should ease problems that arose in the uncontrolled previous arrangement, where some people returned to their vehicles to find them hemmed in by other vehicles.
Vehicles are only allowed in from the southern end, off the carpark of the Senior Citizen's Association, formerly the Napier Travel Centre and, earlier, the railway station.
A sign at the entrance of the site advises users they must have a parking voucher, which can be obtained after paying online to a bank account or by arrangement with Munro Street Parking.