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Unwrap Christmas in the city centre with half-price parking

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PUBLISHED: 25 NOV 2025

Santa Claus is coming to town this weekend – and he’s taking his time because parking in the city centre is half-price over the festive season.

All on street parking and NPDC car parks will cost just $1.50 an hour from 29 November to 11 January, and the first two hours in the Downtown Car Park is free.

New Plymouth District Mayor Max Brough wants everyone to have a cracker of a festive season and support local businesses to keep our economy humming.  

“I’m a bit of a fan of the Grinch as some will know, but at last week’s council meeting we heard that retailers were needing a boost, so I wanted to give everyone an early Christmas gift on us,“ says Mayor Max. “Who says it needs to take forever? On the back of this the team swung into action with a proposal they had been working on to make this happen and support town, so I hope people use this as an opportunity to take the family out and make a day of it these holidays, Merry Grinchmas."

Find out more on where to park and how to pay on npdc.govt.nz/parking.

Fast facts

  • NPDC has more than 880 paid parking spaces in the New Plymouth CBD.
  • You can pay at any of 60 new meters, including 40 Touch N Go machines.
  • You pay by number plate, which means you can move to another on-street metered car park without having to pay another fee if you still have time left on your paid parking session.
  • Remember: if you’re paying with coins, use the 30 yellow-top parking meters.  See map for locations.

Caption: New Plymouth District Mayor Max Brough.