Last week we covered the new Pay and Display parking meters that popped up in North Dunedin seemingly “out of nowhere,” according to one resident. These meters were introduced in portions of Dundas, St David and Union streets, as well as further North along the two one-ways. The DCC said these changes were the result of a public consultation, and was to improve parking turnover, as well as to “better provide for visitors and customers”.
The DCC website is painful to navigate, so Critic couldn’t find when exactly they were accepting submissions on these changes. However, going through old ODT articles shows that these proposed changes were accepted by the DCC’s bylaw subcommittee back in late November of 2018, suggesting that residents of North Dunedin were likely in the middle of exams when these submissions were open. Bastards.
If you weren’t already shedding a tear for your now park-less peers, then get ready for an upsetting development. As of last week, the DCC is considering making MORE Pay and Display parking spots. These will also be $1-an-hour parks, and are proposed to be placed along parts of Albany, Clyde, Forth and Union Streets, and Harbour Terrace. These parks will have no restrictions on them, meaning that people can park there for the whole day if need be. So long as, as the DCC said in their recent letter to residents, “they are willing to pay”.
The proposal includes the creation of seven residential parks by the corner of Clyde and Union Street. However, it is worth noting that as these new parks will be created in the ‘campus zone’ of Dunedin, and not the ‘inner-city zone’, it is unlikely that residents will be eligible for residential parking permits. But so long as only seven people have cars in the dozens of flats affected, then it’s all good lol.
Submissions on these proposed changes are open from now until the 21st of May. So if you rate it or hate it, you’ve got two-ish weeks to do something about it. Student Voice, a student activist group, is hosting a Q&A and submission-writing workshop on the proposal this Wednesday and Thursday in the Evison Lounge at Clubs and Socs, from 4pm until 5:15pm.