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A new 450-space parking building near Christchurch Hospital and additional staff parking is a “step in the right direction,” but some nurses wonder if it is enough.
The new building would be about 350 meters from the hospital and would take two years to build.
It is part of a package to bring more than 650 new car parks to the area. Two floors and 238 parks will also be added to the existing Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) staff parking lot on Antigua St by the first half of 2022.
The existing staff parking building upgrade would add 238 spaces. The current waiting list is 360.
STACY SQUIRES / Stuff
The Christchurch Hospital staff parking lot will have an additional 238 spaces by the first half of 2022.
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The president of the nurses union in Canterbury also raised concerns about the 350m distance between the new visitor parking lot and the hospital, and whether it would be a manageable walking distance for the elderly.
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A map showing where the new Christchurch Hospital parking lot will be.
Canterbury Nurses Organization New Zealand (NZNO) President Cheryl Hanham said shuttles or wheelchairs may be required for the new 450-space car park.
“Otherwise, it will make life equally difficult in that area,” he said.
Hanham also wanted some assurance that staff could use that parking lot in the afternoon and evening if there was space, “because we will still never have enough parking for staff,” he said.
Hanham said there is still a lot of work to be done to protect staff.
Nursing staff have been attacked at night during long walks to their parked cars, staff have arrived hours earlier to secure a park before sleeping in their cars, and some have been fined for parking outside nearby Hagley Park.
Joseph Johnson / Stuff
An existing parking lot on St Asaph Street will have two additional floors added, providing 238 additional parks.
Nurse Harriett Twiss had worked at Christchurch Hospital for seven months and did not have access to the staff parking lot.
“We just have to settle,” he said.
“They told me I was 400 on the waiting list when I applied in January.
“I guess when there is [are] parking lots, people will get them. “
STACY SQUIRES / Stuff
The existing parking lot for CDHB staff on Hagley Ave.
Twiss said the new 450-space parking building would definitely help patients and visitors.
“I know there is a lot of resentment and stress with people trying to come in and leave their relatives or see them … and they can’t get near the building, so it all adds to their stress.”
Joseph Johnson / Stuff
Christchurch Labor MP Duncan Webb and Greater Christchurch Regeneration Minister Megan Woods respond to media inquiries about parking on Friday.
Nurse Jaclyn Smith said the two additional levels for the staff building were “definitely a good idea.” She had waited 18 months before getting a parking spot in August, she said.
A Christchurch Hospital head nurse, who declined to be identified, said she had a parking lot in the staff building, but had to wait three years to get it.
Car parking was “a big problem” and had been an “added stress” for both staff and visitors, he said.
238 additional parks for staff was “a start,” he said.
Joseph Johnson / Stuff
The space where the new parking building will go is currently used for parking.
The 450 visitor parks were great and “better than what we have now,” but probably not enough yet, he said.
“[It is] A step in the right direction. “
A 2017 report from Quality Transport Planning, which the CDHB suggested still reflects current need, said that two 700-space parking lots were needed, while National Congressman and MP Gerry Brownlee previously said he thought 1,000 parks would be needed. to meet demand.
The new 450-space public building will be constructed and managed by property Ngāi Tahu and Ngāi Tūāhuriri on CDHB land in the block bounded by St Asaph St and Hagley Ave. It is expected to be completed in 18 to 24 months.
Access to parking near the hospital has been a major problem in Christchurch after the earthquake, after a 375-space multi-story parking building on the corner of Tuam and Antigua streets was severely damaged. It was demolished in 2016.
The CDHB currently has 1,145 parking spaces for staff in the city center and 262 for the public.
Its current 430-space staff parking building, which costs $ 53 a fortnight to staff who have paid for a park, cannot keep up with demand. There are currently 360 people on the waiting list, with another 175 waiting in the afternoon alone.
Dean Kozanic / Stuff
The old 375-space hospital public car park at the corner of Antigua and Tuam was demolished in 2016 due to damage from the earthquake.
Greater Christchurch Regeneration Minister Megan Woods said Friday’s announcement was a long-term solution to “a protracted and less than adequate situation.”
CDHB Acting Executive Director Peter Bramley said the Canterbury community had been grappling with a lack of parking since the 2011 earthquakes, and CDHB was delighted there was a permanent solution.
Ngāi Tūāhuriri episode Dr. Te Maire Tau said that part of Ngāi Tahu’s role as the community mana whenua was to take care of the people in his community.
