OPINION

How many car parks have we lost in Wellington in the last year?

Too many to count.

There's a story out today about Wellington City Council giving the use of 50 car parks exclusively to one company in Wellington. The deal has been in place since 2010, but it was only made public today.  

There are signs on these 50 carparks in Miramar. The signs say private parking... authorised by Wellington City Council.

The signs warn that unauthorised vehicles will be towed at the owner's expense.

I'm not talking about somebody's private car park. I'm talking about the usual public car parks out the front of a business.

Whose business you wonder? 

A business owned by Wellington's most famous person Sir Peter Jackson; Stone St Studios.

They get 50 public car parks and they essentially get to treat them as their own piece of land.

There was no public consultation about the agreement, and now people are upset because they can’t use the parks.

Now if you're paying hundreds of dollars a year in encroachment fees for a single car park, I get it. 

But the council did a deal with Stanley Properties, directed by Sir Peter and Dame Fran Walsh, and for the 50 parks they pay just $1.00 a year.

How lucky that our current council weren't in power when this deal was done. There'd be a cycle lane with no car parks to rent. 

Compare that to one Mount Cook resident who was paying $919 a year for a 60 square metre section of council land between a footpath in his front door. The council just put the price up and it'll now cost him $1350 this year. 

He pays over a grand. Peter Jackson pays $1.

There's no question I am the biggest Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh fan.

They have totally transformed Wellington as a city over the past 25 years.

And in actual fact, I fully support them having access to 50 car parks out the front of their business for what they do for the city.

But I want to see other businesses treated the same way. 

Why don't I get two car parks out the front of my business, which might I add I am paying exorbitant rates for?

Why doesn't Aro Bake get a couple of car parks out the front of their business? No, those were taken away for a Maori-inspired bike rack. 

Why are we not all treated equally? 

This is preferential treatment for Jackson, and it's not fair. 

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