Replacement Parking Meters due for Ōamaru
Published on 24 November 2025
New cashless, ticketless meters to be installed this week.
New parking meters will soon be on the streets of Ōamaru, as the long-overdue replacement of the town’s meters begins.
The current meters were installed in 2013, with a ten-year life-span, and it’s no surprise to anyone who’s tried to use one recently that they need replacing.
For some it’s a mechanical issue, and Council has struggled to source parts and for others it’s the efficiency of the solar panels. For all of the current meters, the 3G connection to allow it to process payments will stop working at the end of 2025 as the national 3G network is switched off.
Revenue from Council’s parking machines has declined from $249,422 in 2019 to just $79,732 in 2024. This is in part due to the age and breakdowns of the machines. In March 2025 just 8 of the 46 machines were fully functional with 14 completely out of service and a further 24 unable to take debit or credit cards.
The new Orikan parking machines will be ticketless, and you can pay-by-app, by card, or with your phone with Touch N Go. There will be fewer machines than before, 39 of them, because the new ways to pay will mean all people will need is to tap and go, without returning to their car to place a ticket.
By replacing the machines, Council wants to ensure a turnover of parking spaces within the town, and ensure parking users, locals and tourists, support the maintenance of the car parks.
The cost of replacing the machines is $350,000, which will be paid for out of the $424,389.50 parking meter depreciation reserve. These machines are expected to have a life of over a decade, with appropriate maintenance.
It is also Council policy that any excess revenue beyond the cost of maintaining parking infrastructure is used to reduce business rates in areas with parking meters. However, it has been a while since this has happened.
Council will be holding a session at the Ōamaru Library with Orikan about how to use the new meters at the start of December and providing more information on its website and on social media.
Council will be keeping the 1-hour free parking during December and January, however, from the start of February the free 1-hour parking will stop, and there will be a six-month trial of a 15-minute courtesy period to either pop in and out of a shop, or to arrange payment for parking.
The trial will also get feedback from businesses on the effect on footfall, and any decision about permanent changes will be made by the Mayor and Councillors in 2026.
ENDS
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