Currently, in Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai - Lower Hutt city centre and the Melling area, there are 3250 public on-street and off-street carparks. Developing the project will result in a loss of approximately 600 public car parks in various locations, on both sides of the river. Many of these parking areas are permanently needed for the construction of stop banks and the Riverbank car park. This car park will halve in size from its current 850 spaces. Changes to road alignments on both sides of the river will also have an impact on a number of on-street parking spaces.

Last updated: 15 Jun 2023

Based on current use of total parking in Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai - Lower Hutt central city evidence suggests that the net loss of 600 carparks won’t have a significant impact. At the same time, as part of the delivery process, there’ll be a review of the split between short and long-term parking, with a view to maintaining access and the balance for shopping and leisure trips. In addition, public transport amenities and connections will be improved and facilities for active mode shift, eg walking, micro-mobility electric scooters and cycling, will be built as part of the project works.

Last updated: 15 Jun 2023

Project partners acknowledge that the loss of carparks will have an effect on existing users. To reduce those effects Hutt City Council and Greater Wellington will undertake a review. This will inform the development of a Transitional Parking Plan that will help set the plan for managing our transition to fewer carparks.

A key objective of the Transitional Parking Plan will be to support the commercial and retail businesses in our Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai - Lower Hutt city centre, during construction and post construction of the project, with an appropriate mix of short and long-term parking, loading bays and accessible parking spaces. In addition, there’ll be improvements to the public transport network. Providing better walking and cycling infrastructure will encourage, and enable, more people to use these different types of transport, reducing our reliance on private motor vehicles.

Last updated: 15 Jun 2023