It’s on in our city centre!

Tauranga City’s Mayor and Councillors have approved the introduction of a new city centre fringe parking permit.

The decision made at Tuesday’s Council meeting, will give people an option to buy a permit, permit holders can park in the purple city centre fringe paid zone without needing to pay daily at machines or via the parking app.

The permit pricing is set at $150 per month, $750 for six months, or $1,500 for a full year. Residents within the city centre fringe paid zone are eligible for an 80% discount on a one-year permit, bringing the total cost to $300. Resident discounts are limited to one per property.

While holding a permit does not guarantee a parking space, the reduced cost - when compared to paying daily - will support regular city centre commuters and give residents more flexibility to park on their street at a discount.

Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale sees the permit as a solution to some of the concerns he and Councillors have heard in the community and underlines the need to keep exploring other possibilities.

“This is a way to ease the financial pressure of paid parking and gives people who live or work in the area, as well as people that park there all the time, an option for a discount for longer term permits,” says Mahé.

“We will continue looking at innovative ways to make visiting and parking in the city centre easier for our community.”

Permits are available for purchase via the PayMyPark app. Residents should first apply for a discount code by providing proof of address at www.tauranga.govt.nz/parking.

Originally set to begin on Monday, 4 August, the new city centre fringe paid zone will now come into effect on Monday, 18 August, giving residents and regular commuters more time to apply for their permits and adapt to the changes.

The new city centre fringe paid zone is part of phase two of the Parking Management Plan (PMP) for the city centre that was approved by Council on 28 April. The PMP aims to improve access to short-stay parking, and balance increased demand across the city centre and city centre fringe with new paid and time- restricted zones, and changes to off-street pricing.

All public parking, including parking buildings and off-street carparks are free after 5pm, free every weekend and on public holidays.