Other policy measures to be considered as “requested in my OIA”
After a complaint to the Ombudsman, Minister Chris Bishop has finally replied to my Official Information Act request (OIA) about Minimum Parking Requirements. You can read the history of that OIA, and the questions I answered below.
” I therefore request an OIA regarding the following questions regarding Minimum Parking Requirements:
1. What advice has the Minister received regarding Minimum Parking Requirements including evidence of the negative consequences caused by these requirements being in Planning laws and documents
2. Is the Minister aware that no submissions to the National Policy Statement – Urban Development requested the return of Minimum Parking Requirements? And the summary of submissions to the NPS-UD provided by MfE clearly and categorically stated no submitter including Auckland Council wanted Minimum Parking Requirements to return to the Planning regime?
3. If Minimum Parking Requirements were to return where would they be placed? Why is the text in the Planning Bill or back in the NPS-UD?
4. Despite submissions clearly stating that no Council wants Minimum Parking Requirements do return,, if they were to return will it be open to the full submission rounds again?
5. Finally in light of comments raised by Auckland Councillor for Howick Bo Burns, regarding on-street parking problems apparently caused by urban development in Auckland, what will the Minister consider to make it easier and less costly for Councils to roll out interventions such as No Stopping at All Times Lines (yellow lines) and paid parking without being bogged down in needless and unnecessary consultation rounds? “
You can see my OIA was sparked after Howick Councillor Bo Burns effectively went behind the Council’s back in wanting Minimum Parking Requirements back after Council last year said they did NOT want them back in their submission to the National Policy Statement – Urban Development (NPS-UD). Now remember this bit as forms the missing link as it were to the OIA information I got back from Bishop.
Below is Bishop’s reply, then the official advise. Note the dates on the advice as this will tie back into the NPS-UD situation I just mentioned.
Bishop’s reply
The official advice
Notice the three situations that I found with the OIA reply:
- First is that Minimum Parking Requirements are NOT coming back for now (if at all)
- Second is the date of that advice: 2024
- Third is that they are looking at the Land Transport Act, as well as the Standardised Zones for alternatives to help better manage parking policy. Now it is worth to remember that the Ministry will not have the Standardised Zones out until December this year if not early 2027. There is an election before that too. Another thing to consider.
A lot of moving parts but I consider my OIA answered given the information currently floating around.
But back to the date of the advice: 2024. Why is this important? Because for changes to the Parking Policy through the National Direction (the NPS’s for where it would sit for now) to occur CONSULTATION must be done with the Councils. So what you might ask? Well that consultation was done late last year in 2025 when the Ministry asked about changes to the NPS-UD as part of Going for Housing Growth. Minimum Parking Requirements was one of the questions and ZERO of the 400 odd submitters including EVERY SINGLE COUNCIL (Auckland too) DID NOT WANT MINIMUM PARKING REQUIREMENTS back. So per the 2024 advice, in 2025 the required consultation was done with a resounding NO!
Bishop can go for another round of consultation again even as the Ministry has strongly said NO given the Benefit Cost Ratio for removing MPRs stands at 8.6 to 1 AND both developers and Councils are handling the market dynamics of off street parking any way. But it would take about three months to do consultation on the NPS-UD again. That would put it to September when the consultation is complete and the Summary of Submissions is done. We have elections in November (Parliament dissolves in September) and Councils will be busy with the Planning Bill from July. Simply put there is no real time for this to happen this side of the election. So what to do?
Where the problem sits is with on street parking which is under different legislation to the Resource Management Act, and as of this post the Planning Bill. The Land Transport Act as the OIA points out is where on street parking policy would sit. Now changes have been made to allow Council’s to be more responsive to this and for all its faults Auckland Transport is doing this with their Comprehensive Parking Strategies. Where my OIA went and was confirmed is how to make these strategies easier. Work in progress there. Furthermore as I mentioned earlier, Bishop and the Ministry are looking at how the Planning Bill via Standardised Policies could also look at parking. Now this could mean Minimum Parking Requirements return through the Standardised Zones but I doubt it. What we also have is the NPS-Infrastructure which means infrastructure must be ready for development to occur per the NPS-UD and later the Standardised Zones.
Where am I going with this. It means in a perfect would given parking is part of Transport Infrastructure, the market dynamics of private off street parking as we have now through no Minimum Parking Requirements continues. BUT, as an addition Council would need to ensure parking was supplied and managed properly and that alternatives such as transit and cycling were available. To me as a Planner that would mean adopting part of the Japanese approach to where all parking is off street and none is on street. Using Cities Skylines 2 that means placing down communal parking lots which the Japanese do while more effective tools with on street parking such as making it paid are available.
Finally with an election soon and the Standardised Zones not out until after the elections, Bishop might not be having the final say on Parking. Given Labour and Greens are committed to having MPRs still banned in our planning documents, better strategies as the OIA have revealed and as Japan can offer still need to be done. Removing Minimum Parking Requirements is one half of an effective urban policy. Your road spaces is the second half and as always the game (and policy) is always made up of two halves!
Talking Southern Auckland 