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Wellsford residents are fuming after a newspaper announcement that Auckland Council plans to sell off a carpark in Harrison Street.
President of the Wellsford Promotions Association Stef Railey says the sale of the carpark will be a terrible loss for the people that use it.
She says with State Highway 1 running right through the town, the carpark provides one of the few safe places to park.
“We’re concerned about the safety of people in Wellsford at the moment. We don’t have a lot of footpaths, we don’t have a lot of safety features that a lot of other places have,” she says.
“I’m shocked that it is even being considered.”
In addition to safety concerns, she says the loss of the carpark will damage local businesses as the ability of customers to park becomes increasingly restricted.
“Absolutely it will damage local businesses. That carpark is well used all the time. It’s always busy,” Ms Railey says.
Another carpark at the north end of town lost many of its parking spaces after the land was sold to make way for a Gull petrol station late last year.
Ms Railey’s views are echoed by the Wellsford representative on the Rodney Local Board, Colin Smith.
He says more than 20 people have raised concerns with him.
“I’ve had a lot of people phoning and going mad. I would have thought they would have at least communicated with the local public before slamming it on the market,” he says.
“A lot of shopkeepers are out of towners. They will have to park outside their businesses, which does not help their business make money.”
But Ian Wheeler, director of portfolio management for Panuku – the Council’s property management arm – says the carpark is surplus to requirements.
The carpark was approved for sale by the Rodney District Council in 2009. The car parking designation, which would have precluded the use of the site for any other purpose, has been lifted this year.
Panuku is now progressing with the sale of the site.
“In 2008, Rodney District Council carried out a town centre parking survey in Wellsford that showed the area has a good supply of parking and that the site was not required for strategic transport purposes, including parking,” Mr Wheeler says.
He adds that in 2015, Auckland Transport reviewed the results of the survey and reached the same conclusion; that the town centre is well provided for in regards to parking.
Ms Railey responded that conditions have changed since the survey was carried out and she is sceptical of its value.
“The problem is when the council does these surveys they send someone up who knows nothing about the town. They make up their own conclusions without asking people on the ground,” she says.
There are about 22 car parking spaces within the legal boundaries of 3 Harrison Street. Other marked parking spaces, outside the boundaries of the site, bring the total number of spaces up to about 48.
