Car park plan for reserve

A council reserve off Glenmore Drive in Warkworth could be used for car parking to ease traffic congestion if a proposal by One Mahurangi Business Association is supported.

Members told a Rodney Local Board meeting on October 16 there was an acute shortage of parking in and around the industrial area, with vehicles parked on both sides of Glenmore Drive and sometimes on the berm outside businesses.

Manager Murray Chapman said the situation was dangerous and a safety hazard, and if something wasn’t done, some businesses might be forced to move away.

He said now that Bowls Warkworth had decided the club would not relocate to Campbell Reserve, a two-hectare green space between 29 and 33 Glenmore Drive, One Mahurangi thought it was worth seeing if it could be used as a carpark to ease some of the parking stresses.

Board members heard that while it would need to be a decent size, the carpark only needed to be gravel and there would still be green space where people could walk.

They voted to investigate the cost of constructing a gravel carpark at the reserve in Glenmore Drive.

Chapman said after the meeting he was pleased at the board’s positive response to the idea.

“It’s dangerous, there’s no doubt about it, and some of those businesses, their staff must really struggle to find a place to park. It’s very narrow there, it’s a real safety hazard,” he said.

“The reserve is never used, so it might as well have some use and there’ll still be a green space where people can walk their dogs.”