Wellington City parking rates are punitive as they are, with operating hours already reaching into the evening.

With increases ranging from 10-50% this will hit trades people hard, as well as Wellingtonians who work in the city all day, and have no alternative due to the lack of public transport in and out of Wellington.

Until the Wellington City Council provides usable, reliable public transport, these new changes will make it much harder, if not impossible, for many Wellingtonians to come into the city.

With a 2 hour time limit as late as 10pm, it will be impossible for people to come into the city for dinner and a show, and the effect will be detrimental to our hospitality and entertainment industries, not to mention the Wellingtonians working in these industries.

The timing of this huge parking rate increase on top of the proposed increase in property rates seems particularly cruel too. We call on WCC to reverse the new rates and hours of operation, to allow Wellingtonians and businesses a chance to recover from the economic impact of COVID-19.