A Tauranga retailer has packed up and relocated his store out of the city centre because he 'can't see a future there” anymore.

Bill and Frances Campbell opened their gift and souvenir store, Fancy That, in Tauranga in 2008 but moved to Mount Maunganui's main shopping area two weeks ago.

Bill Campbell said parking charges being reinstated last year and a loss of nearby carparks when the Devonport Road parking area was closed impacted business.

'We're moving to survive. If we were going quite nicely in town, we would've stayed.”

The Devonport Road parking lot was closed earlier this year for redevelopment and city council offices will be built on the site.

Tauranga City Council brought back paid on-street parking in December 2022 to increase the turnover of parks after CBD workers were found to be parking in them all day.

Free parking was established in mid-2020 to help businesses struggling in the wake of Covid-19.

Campbell was 'chuffed” with the free parking because it was something he had pushed for to help businesses not only with Covid but with the construction occurring around the CBD.

'It's taken the cream off everything by putting a parking charge back on,” he said.

'The customers were a lot happier when the parking was free.”

He said there were a lot more empty carparks after the charges were reinstated.

Campbell also had concerns that around 150 parks would be removed from The Strand when it was closed for redevelopment.

The northern area of The Strand will be transformed from a carpark to a green reserve later in the year.

'Taking the parking will kill it,” said Campbell.

'It's probably okay for professional people and businesses who don't rely on foot traffic. But for retail, who relies on foot traffic, to take away handy accessible parking, that's 150 less people we're going to have visiting our shops.

'And there is nobody visiting now. You've got to have foot traffic to make things work,” he said.

Bill Campbell said they were 'pleasantly surprised” at how well it was going in their new Mount location. Photo: John Borren/SunLive.

The ongoing construction and redevelopment in the city also had an effect on people visiting and revenue, said Campbell.

He said the last five or six years had been 'terrible” financially.

'It has affected our income seriously.

'The more construction work you have around the city, it might be what they call progress, but it certainly doesn't help business.

'It affects retail seriously. The whole atmosphere of the CBD is being dulled by all the construction work.”

On his move to Mount Maunganui Campbell said they were 'pleasantly surprised” at how well it was going.

'It's nice to see there's no parking wardens,” he said, because parking in Mount Maunganui is free.

TCC general manager of city development and partnerships Gareth Wallis. Photo: John Borren/SunLive.

In response to Campbell's concerns, council general manager of city development and partnerships Gareth Wallis said one of the council's 'main priorities” was to revitalise the city centre.

'After years of inaction, we are now in catch up mode.

'We acknowledge that this revitalisation won't happen overnight and really feel for those businesses who are struggling right now,” he said.

'We are committed to working with them and other organisations, such as Downtown Tauranga, NZ Police and our partner councils, so together we can support our city centre through this period of significant transformation.”   

Yesterday the council reduced the paid on-street parking hours from 6pm to 5pm on weekdays and made Saturdays free, after it was found charging for parking had reduced the number of people visiting the city.

Wallis said these changes showed the council was listening to the concerns of business owners and the community.

'As well as these parking changes, we recently broadened the scope of the City Centre Development Incentive Fund, which will enable us to implement a wider range of initiatives to support the ongoing growth and development of the city centre for a short-to-medium term.”

Council was currently working through how the fund would be allocated, he said.

The northern area of The Strand will be transformed from a carpark to a green reserve. Image: Supplied/TCC.

With The Strand redevelopment, Wallis said they were working through how many carparks would be removed but there would be a drop off zone and some maternity car parks.

The council has previously said it could be 145 parking spots.

'The upgrade of the Dive Crescent carpark across the road will help to offset the loss of carparks in this area,” said Wallis.

In regards to parking, council's general manager infrastructure Nic Johansson said paid parking was reintroduced to support retailers and customers who were concerned people working in the city centre were using on-street parking spaces all day.

'It's still early days, but we are seeing a noticeable increase in available parking spaces during weekdays, which is great news for people wanting to park for a short time, close to their shopping destination.

'As intended, we've been closely monitoring the situation and we've found that Saturdays and weekday evenings are key times when paid on-street parking could be seen as a deterrent for people wanting to spend time in the city centre.”

He said they wanted to remove that barrier, which is why council made the changes on Monday.

Campbell said the council should go back to the two hours free parking because it was the 'most successful thing” for businesses.

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