Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is on the warpath today with Auckland Transport over the removal of car parks on Karangahape Rd, which local retailers fear will destroy their livelihoods.

Brown has messaged AT chief executive Dean Kimpton today to stop plans to remove the car parks on Sunday when a new express bus service from West Auckland begins.

“Please stop trashing AT’s improving public perception and your own,” Brown told Kimpton, a relative newbie in the top job who is out to improve the public image of AT.

The mayor also confirmed to the Herald that he had been led by AT yesterday to believe that pauses to the project, involving shorter hours for loading zones until February 11, also involved pausing the removal of car parks for shoppers until February 11.

AT boss Dean Kimpton today got a bollocking from Wayne Brown. Photo / Michael Craig

This led Brown to issue a statement last night that implied he supported all the of the changes coming into effect on Sunday, including the removal of car parks.

In his message to Kimpton, Brown said “the K Rd handling just gets worse, the delay should include the car parks”.

In a reply to Brown, Kimpton said: “I’m getting all of this together and will look at all the facts. We have a bit more time now, and agree we need to do better. Leave the carparks until February.”

Right up to last evening, senior bureaucrats at AT were rubbishing any suggestion they had done anything but a professional job consulting with local businesses.

AT metro specification manager Edward Wright said that during consultation with Aucklanders, 62 per cent of submitters supported extending bus lane hours.

• K Rd businesses fearful after AT proceeds with removing last remaining car parks
• Car parks removed on K Rd despite calls from Wayne Brown for a rethink

“With projects like this AT works to deeply understand the views and concerns of local communities and businesses so we can balance these against the need for us to improve transport outcomes for Aucklanders,” he said yesterday evening.

Dr Andrew Wong from the Newton Medical Centre is up in arms about moves by AT to remove general parking and restrict loading zones on Karangahape Rd. Photo / Dean Purcell

Many business owners have spoken out about the financial consequences form the loss of parking, coming on top of years of disruption from the City Rail Link, the $30 million cycleway/road improvements and Covid.

Jason Robinson, who runs Army and Outdoors on K Rd, told the Herald a lot of businesses on the street are doing it really tough and if they are going to be to ride out the next 12 months or more with no parking, some will not survive.

He and other business owners are scathing of the “one-sided” consultation process for “Project K” - a street improvement series of projects for the City Rail Link, which includes a new station on K Rd.

One of the new signs that have been installed on Karangahape Rd extending bus lane hours from 7am to 7pm. Photo / Dean Purcell

“It’s almost like the outcome has been predetermined and they are just finding evidence to support what they want to do. The businesses don’t feel listened to,” said Robinson.

Newton Medical Centre GP Dr Andrew Wong said a lot of shops have already noticed a drop-off in businesses since AT put up signs for the changes 12 days ago, saying if the changes proceed it will be the end of K Rd.

Another retailer came forward yesterday to say she had been in business on K Rd for 23 years and is “really stressed out” about the changes.

“You take away our parking, you take away our customers … I don’t know how I will survive without customer parking,” said the woman, who owns a clothing and jewellery store.

Bernard Orsman is an Auckland-based reporter who has been covering local government and transport since 1998. He joined the Herald in 1990 and worked in the parliamentary press gallery for six years.