Parking leniency proposal criticised

Press, 25 September 1989, Page 4

Parking leniency proposal criticised

A Canterbury Labour candidate has criticised Dr Morgan Fahey for his policy of leniency for parking offenders in central Christchurch. Mr Denis O’Rourke says Dr Fahey’s call for less stringent enforcement does not tally with United Citizens’ policy plank of law and order. Mr O’Rourke, a candidate in- the Hagley ward of the new Christchurch City, said any failure to properly enforce parking regulations would be untenable. Easing central-city parking enforcement would not necessarily bring more people in to shop. The central business

district’s real problem was that most shops were dull, boring and uninviting, he said. Suburban malls were beating the city centre hands down. Mr O’Rourke wants retailers in the city centre to do more to attract shoppers and tourists. He believes the council has done its bit to attract people back to the city centre, but that retailers have “in general been extraordinarily apathetic.” If elected he would work with retailers to revitalise the inner city, but would expect more input from them than complaints about parking enforcement, he said.