The Star: May 04, 2023

The Star Thursday May 4 2023
6
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Hospital parking woes likely to
• By Niva Chittock
PARKING TROUBLES at
Christchurch Hospital are set to
continue for at least another year.
Documents and emails released
to Radio New Zealand under the
Official Information Act show Te
Whatu Ora Waitaha’s board voted
to delay construction on more safe
staff parking for two years.
An extension to the existing
secure staff parking building on
St Asaph St and a new public
parking building both missed
their original deadlines last year.
Hospital staff have been left
to find their own parking in the
meantime.
Some had been assaulted or
stalked walking to and from their
vehicle or had returned to find
their cars vandalised in recent
years.
The public were also struggling
with limited on-site parking –
only 35 spaces were available
outside the Waipapa building.
The situation
Minister Megan
Woods announced
a $14.25m central
government
contribution
towards both
parking projects in
September 2020.
Megan
Woods
DELAYS: A new public car park being constructed by Ngāi Tahu Property on the corner of
St Asaph St and Hagley Ave, across the road from Christchurch Hospital, is now expected
to be finished by the end of September – 12 months later than the original timeframe.
PHOTO: NIVA CHITTOCK/RNZ
At the time, she said work was
already under way to ensure
temporary parking for staff while
their secure building was closed
for construction.
In documents and emails
viewed by RNZ, it appeared staff
were not aware of this and were
still scrambling for solutions
five months later.
In February 2021, an internal
report to the health board chair
said “despite earlier hope, there
is no opportunity for ongoing
parking in the building whilst
construction is under way”.
There would be a net loss of 470
car parks by the end of March
if construction went ahead as
originally planned.
That would leave “no secure
parks for afternoon or night shift
staff, no daytime parking for
clinical staff or those staff with
compromised health”, the report
said.
“There are currently no permanent
or reliable solutions to
adequately mitigate this loss of
staff car parks.
“Solutions are urgently being
investigated, but present a cost
burden,” it said.
“The logistics and resources
required to move and relocate
500 staff in a short period will be
significant.
“The health and safety of staff
walking various routes during
the evening and overnight is of
concern, and there have been
reported incidents of assault
against staff,” the report said.
Parking options
The following four proposals
were then listed as the most
viable solutions:
• Leasing additional land from
Fulton Hogan to expand the
hospital’s existing park and ride
service on Deans Ave
• A park and ride service from
The Princess Margaret Hospital
• A park and ride service from
Christchurch Arena
• Delaying the project until the
new public car park building was
completed, then leasing some of
these parks while the extension
was built.
It was estimated extending the
park and ride service on Deans
Ave would cost close to $950,000
a year.
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