Christchurch City councillors have approved a notice of motion from Mayor Phil Mauger to investigate free overnight parking for hospital workers at Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre.

The decision, made at a council meeting on Wednesday, followed concerns raised by hospital staff about the lack of affordable parking during night shifts.

Councillor and mayoral candidate Sara Templeton had also raised the issue with staff earlier, although she was not present at the meeting. Her approach was informal, while Mauger’s notice of motion brought the matter before councillors for a formal decision, helping to accelerate the process.

Mauger said council staff were initially considering looking into the parking issue three months after Parakiore opened, which he believed was too slow.

“I don’t want to wait three minutes, I want to get this going,” he told councillors. “As soon as we have the keys, and we own it, I don’t want it to get lost in the system. We owe it to the people to get on with this as soon as we can.”

He added that during a recent visit to the Emergency Department, nurses had shared their frustration about the lack of parking options available to staff.

The approved motion directs council staff to work with Christchurch Hospital management to explore two options:

• Providing free overnight parking at Parakiore for hospital staff working night shifts

• Investigating whether the hospital could offer free transport between Parakiore and the hospital for night staff

Burwood Councillor Kelly Barber said the parking issue should have been addressed by central government long ago.

“I think it’s madness that our council is having to get involved in something that really should have been taken care of by government,” Barber said. “Why would you build a hospital and have inadequate parking for your staff and for the people that visit there?”

Barber shared a local resident’s experience, describing how difficult it was to find parking near the hospital during a family emergency.

“She said the anxiety of trying to find a park is something she shouldn’t have to go through when she’s already got enough to deal with.”

He thanked the mayor for taking action, saying, “Talk is talk, but action is action, and I’m really glad to see this is actually happening today.”

Councillors unanimously supported the proposal.