News Release

Tuesday 9 September 2014

New designated parking area for campervans in central Rotorua

Rotorua District Council (RDC) is setting up a free daytime parking area to cater specifically for visiting campervan and motorhome drivers. The aim is to provide an easily accessible parking facility within a few minutes’ walk of the inner city and other downtown visitor locations.

The new designated parking venue is located just behind The Arts Village in Government Gardens, inside the Hinemoa Street entrance. It will have free all-day parking spaces marked out for the larger vehicles, as well as providing parking spaces for cars.

Street signage is expected to be in place by the end of September directing motorhome drivers to the park, and it will be promoted through campervan rental companies, visitor information services, brochures and websites.

RDC Inner City Revitalisation portfolio lead, Councillor Karen Hunt, said there had been campervan parking issues within the inner city for some time, especially with the more recent growth in use of the vehicles in recent years.

“Rotorua is a major destination for motorhomes and campervans but some drivers find that they can’t park close enough to the inner city so avoid the area altogether. This means retailers, cafes and other businesses in the central city often miss out on their custom.

“Others park their large vehicles on the street in spaces meant for smaller regular-sized cars, making it difficult for other motorists to drive past.

“During our recent consultation with the local community to develop our Rotorua 2030 vision and goals we received comment about the lack of daytime parking for these vehicles. One submitter wrote: ‘Lots of visitors use campervans but there is nowhere to park. We have a lot of reserves. Why not use some for this purpose.’ Those matters have also been discussed with our Inner City Focus Group.

“So the new development is a positive response to these issues and to submissions we’ve received.” said Ms Hunt. “It supports our Rotorua 2030 objective to get more people in our streets, particularly people on foot.

“The new campervan parking area is a practical compromise that helps takes these vehicles out of the very centre of the city. But at the same time it provides an easily accessible designated parking location that’s free to use and is still only a few minutes’ walk to Tutanekai Street, Rotorua Museum, the i-SITE and other visitor spots.

“The new parking space will also mean easy access to Te Ara Ahi cycleway, and the new cycle route being proposed across the inner city. This will appeal to the increasing number of people carrying bikes on their motorhomes these days when travelling, meaning they can park-and-ride.”

Rotorua District Council was hoping the new campervan facility would be the first of a number of designated parking areas for motorhomes around the city and was currently investigating other sites for potential future development.

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