Parking is on our plate at the moment and it’s a subject we always get a lot of feedback on, whenever changes are made.

We will be consulting on a district-wide parking strategy and a parking management plan for the town centre; both are designed to strike a balance between parking close to where you want to be and encouraging more pedestrians to move about in our nearly-finished new town centre.

The new digital parking sensors will provide a lot of accurate information once they are up and running but we already know parking is important to both businesses and customers in Ashburton.

Some of the changes are because Government has removed the requirement for developers to provide parking in an urban setting - it is aimed at residential apartment living but the change was also an opportunity for us to update our current strategy and plan.

The CBD revitalisation has resulted in the loss of some car parks but Council wants to create more parking and has put aside money in the Long Term Plan to do so. One of the ideas is to create a second West Street carpark on KiwiRail land opposite Baring Square West.

The changing way we move about means we must also think about making space to charge e-bikes, scooters and vehicles; lock-up cages for bikes and plenty of signs telling people where they can park while they do their jobs in town or go for coffee.

While considering the number of car parks, not only in the CBD but in the wider inner town area, we must think about development in the future that might affect parking space. In the future, there might also be parking management plans for other towns, like Methven and Rakaia.

We look forward to your feedback when these documents go out for consultation.