Ghost town - Are QLDC's parking charges and "instant" tickets partly to blame?

Crux has been receiving complaints about over-zealous QLDC parking enforcement contributing to a post Covid absence of visitors to Queenstown's CBD.

Here's one of the messages we received:

"Last week I decided to support local and go into town for lunch and some shopping. My husband dropped me off and went on to find a parking space. A week later, we're sent a $40 fine as the place he dropped me off was a taxi stand. And QLDC wonders why locals are deterred from visiting the CBD?

"After speaking with friends, many have had the same infringement notice for pulling over to drop off passengers safely. Should it really be made that difficult for locals to enjoy their town centre? Is this kind of blatant revenue gathering really the way to make Queenstown an accessible and welcoming place to spend time and money?"

Is using CCTV to catch short term parking offenders the right strategy as the CBD struggles to survive post Covid?

Residents have been aware for some time that council CCTV cameras are being used to issue parking tickets and we have had multiple complaints from our audience regarding what they see as the over zealous parking enforcement, and charging, in the centre of Queenstown.

We asked QLDC for their response - which is published in full below:

"There is a variety of parking available in and surrounding Queenstown’s central business district. These parks are enforced to ensure availability for the correct users.

“Due to the effects of COVID-19 there is more available parking in general. However, in some situations people have seen empty spaces as on opportunity to park in an incorrect space, without adhering to the appropriate regulations.

“The correct users of the spaces do not expect people to park in them unlawfully, and expect QLDC to enforce these parks for them.”

 “QLDC is continuing to work on aspects of a parking strategy for Queenstown’s CBD. While we may be able to provide updates on this later in the year, the basis of Council’s approach will remain the same: encouraging the use of alternate modes of transport to make the town centre a more amenable space for all users.”