A third parklet will be appearing on The Strand soon, outside Mexican-themed restaurant and bar, Aribar.

The bar at 80 The Strand has requested the installation of one of Whakatāne District Council’s parklets, or outdoor dining platforms.

This was approved at a meeting of the council’s projects and services committee yesterday.

Three parklets, each taking the space of two of The Strand’s angle parking spaces, were an innovation introduced by the council in early 2021 in conjunction with events promotion group EPIC and the Chamber of Commerce.

They were intended to increase the vibrancy of the town centre.

Two parklets are in place outside The Wagon and Ataturk Turkish Kebabs, while the third is in storage due to a lack of demand from businesses.

Feedback was sought from neighbouring businesses, one of which was in support of the installation of the parklet and one expressing concern about the loss of parking, particularly for elderly clients and those with mobility challenges.

The council’s transport team assessed the impact of the loss of two parking spaces to be minor in the context of the total number of car parks available in the town centre, including those nearby in Kakahoroa Drive.

Deputy Mayor Julie Jukes questioned whether businesses paid any rent for the use of the car parks.

She was told only relocation and administrative fees were paid.

Councillor Lesley Immink raised an issue with the loss of car parking on The Strand during the day.

“That premises has very little patronage for 90 percent of the day. Yet we’re going to lose an additional two car parks. Considering we are not really getting any generation of revenue from it, I’ve got a bit of an issue with it.

She asked what monitoring of the success of the parklets there had been.

“I know enhancing the vibrancy of the CBD is really important. Do we just accept the premises’ analysis that it has been successful?”

Staff said feedback had been anecdotal, but a more specific evaluation could be carried out on the request of elected members.

Mayor Nandor Tanczos said he liked the parklets.

“They do add a bit of life to the street.”

Given they were in a public space, he questioned whether they were intended to be for the exclusive use of the premises or for more open use.

Staff responded that the license to occupy the platforms was for the business that had requested it and was clearly available for their patrons.

However, technically, road reserve couldn’t be exclusively given to one organisation or one area so it would always be open to the public.

Drinking alcohol on the platforms was something the businesses would have to manage in terms of their licensing provisions.