Parking on the streets of the Anderson Heights commercial area has been the source of debate for some time but now the council is calling on the public to help it understand the problem and propose solutions.

To gauge the extent of the problem the council has asked anyone who regularly visits businesses and shops in the Anderson Heights commercial area to provide feedback regarding their parking experience and help decide on future parking restrictions on Cliff Wilson Drive, Link Way, Reece Crescent and the nearby portions of Anderson Road.

Queenstown Lakes District Council staff said there is plenty of on and off street carparking in this area “however it is currently not working as well as it could”. 

“This has led to a number of requests from businesses and residents to introduce parking restrictions to help keep things moving and provide better access for customers.”

The QLDC established an Anderson Heights interactive map on its Let’s Talk webpage for locals to highlight where they envisage problems and potential solutions. 

Since the interactive page went live at the end of last month, almost 30 responses provided by businesses and individuals have been added to the map. 

One business said it provides onsite parking for its clients but needs all day parking nearby for its staff. It fears that parking restrictions “will result in empty streets for most of the day and will push our staff parking out into the adjacent residential areas”.

Several others agreed, saying there wasn’t a parking problem now but introducing time limitations on street parking could create one in nearby residential streets. 

Others said their parking experiences were made more complex by the constant flow of delivery vehicles which often struggled to find suitable parking for short-term deliveries. 

Additional designated loading zones on both sides of the streets were supported by several respondents.

Some respondents said a few businesses appear to have insufficient off-street customer parking and relied instead on street parking for customers, and that time restrictions, ranging from P60 - P120, would be beneficial on certain streets. 

One solution proposed was to increase available street parking by replacing the footpath on one side of the Reece Crescent with angle parking.

Feedback on the subject is open until tomorrow (Friday October 16) here.

The council said once it has analysed the feedback it will prepare a report to present to the Wanaka Community Board at its December meeting.

If the report recommends restrictions and they are approved, the restrictions could be in place by early 2021.

PHOTO: Wanaka App