Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Editorial: Real test for free parking

By Kelly Makiha
Rotorua Daily Post·
28 Aug, 2013 09:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Free parking in Rotorua will be an interesting experiment. Photo / File

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.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The council is introducing another free parking temporary trial - this time for 19 months.

The cynics might question the timing of such a Christmas present (being just weeks out from the local body elections) but who cares? If it works to make our CBD better, then why wait any longer?

I have been told by one central city retailer he knows of Reporoa locals who choose to shop in Taupo ahead of Rotorua purely because it has free parking. It's ridiculous, but true.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

I look forward to seeing the results of this trial and hope it's the start of a thriving town centre.

Discover more

Editorial: Be a friend to our rescue chopper

26 Aug 09:00 PM

Editorial: Leader race will spice up politics

27 Aug 09:00 PM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua science fair aims to inspire young women in stem

Premium
Rotorua Daily Post

'Stay on your side of the Bombays': Rotorua developer's swipe at Auckland firms

Premium
Rotorua Daily Post

More than half of Crown Regional Holdings' loan book flagged as 'at risk'


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua science fair aims to inspire young women in stem
Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua science fair aims to inspire young women in stem

The science fair runs from July 23-25 at Rotorua Energy Events Centre.

16 Jul 09:30 PM
Premium
Premium
'Stay on your side of the Bombays': Rotorua developer's swipe at Auckland firms
Rotorua Daily Post

'Stay on your side of the Bombays': Rotorua developer's swipe at Auckland firms

16 Jul 09:03 PM
Premium
Premium
More than half of Crown Regional Holdings' loan book flagged as 'at risk'
Rotorua Daily Post

More than half of Crown Regional Holdings' loan book flagged as 'at risk'

16 Jul 08:54 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP