Free parking in Rotorua will be an interesting experiment. Photo / File
Just before Christmas last year, the Rotorua District Council introduced a free parking trial in our central city. It was a roaring success. Town was buzzing and the parks were full.
Few central city workers flouted the trial, shoppers were happy and inner-city retailers wanted it permanent to breathe life
back into our struggling CBD.
Doubters said the trial was only a success because of the timing, saying the weeks before Christmas were always going to be busy.
I was one of those who thought that. It's hardly a trial when for some, the weeks before Christmas are the only days they ever come to the central city.
Now I'm looking forward to being proved wrong.
