Parks on the move

SATURDAY morning chaos is predicted after the removal of car parking outside Kensington Park.

Parking along Western Hills Drive has been removed to improve State Highway 1 traffic flow.

Whangarei District Council roading manager Jeff Devine says the lost carparks will be replaced down Lupton Ave and on a former contractor's yard on the corner of Kensington Ave and Park Ave.

But mothers of young soccer players say those carparks will not be enough to meet the already huge demand on Saturday mornings when hundreds of rugby and soccer players and their supporters descend on Whangarei's biggest sporting venue.

Kim Beer, whose children play for Manaia Tigers Soccer Club, says the remaining carparks will be "hopeless" when winter sports start in April.

Midget rugby and under eight soccer are played on the opposite end of Kensington Park – a long way to walk from Lupton Ave for kids as young as four or five, she says.

"There will be people parking on the yellow lines, trying to drop their kids off," she says.

It could be an accident waiting to happen with the busy road, she says.

Ms Beer believes an exemption could be made on the yellow lines on Western Hills Drive for Saturday mornings.

"Really the council needs to be more proactive and provide more, or else it's going to be an absolute mess and people's kids won't play just because of that," she says.

But Mr Devine says the new carparks will exceed what has been lost.

Providing carparks on Lupton Ave between Kensington Ave and Wrack St will encourage people to use all the carparks in Lupton Ave.

"It means people will have to walk further but there are 200 to 300 carparks available," he says.

The new carparks are due to be completed by June.

Mr Devine says the council is also looking at more carparking by the St John ambulance station but this would have to fit the Kensington Park Management Plan.

The council is also proposing a large carpark beside Killen St, associated with the gymnasium and athletic track development.

"Providing carparks for Kensington is alway an issue because of the high use that park has on Saturday," Mr Devine says.

- © Fairfax NZ News