Visiting the rose gardens at the Christchurch Botanic Gardens will come with a new cost from next month. File photo. Photo: 123RF
Visitors will have to pay to park at Christchurch's Botanic Gardens from late next month, after city councillors formally voted to introduce the charges.
Parking at the gardens and Hagley Park will cost $2 for the first hour and $1.30 for each additional hour - up to a maximum of $4.60 for three hours - from 28 October.
The fees would apply seven days a week from 8am-5pm and were expected to generate almost $2.1 million in annual revenue.
Christchurch city councillors agreed to the changes in June in a bid to crack down on overstayers, although at Wednesday's meeting to formalise the charges, they heard no one was fined for breaching the 180-minute time limit in March, April or May.
Parking meters would be installed in four areas - at the horticultural centre, cricket oval and Botanic Gardens car parks off Riccarton Avenue and Armagh Street.
A council report noted parking charges would increase the availability of parks that were often used as commuter parking spaces for CBD workers, but could result in public dissatisfaction with paid parking.
Councillor Sara Templeton unsuccessfully sought to have weekend hours reduced from 8am-5pm to 10am-4pm under a proposed amendment.
She said weekend visitors were not daily commuters.
"Especially at the weekends, our gardens should be accessible to everyone," she said.
Councillor Yani Johanson told the meeting there was no occupancy data to support the changes and questioned why parking wardens had not enforced the rules around overstaying.
"If we do parking charges here, outside our gardens and sports fields, where does it stop? Does it mean we're going to start charging at children's playgrounds in the central city as well? Does it mean we're going to start charging at Nga Puna Wai?" he said.
"I'd much rather have people using this car park as much as possible, than reducing people's access the gardens, Hagley Park and the sports fields."