The hospital car park is a civic disgrace

The poor state of outdoor car parking in Christchurch has been a perennial subject since the city started to open up again after the earthquakes. For operators it seemed to be as simple as fencing off some gravel and knowing they would come. But Christchurch Hospital's park and ride car park on Deans Ave has set a new low.

The Press revealed the shocking condition of the car park, which is on the opposite side of Hagley Park from the hospital. In the absence of any parking while the hospital is being rebuilt, patients and visitors must park on a muddy, remote stretch of land, pay $5 and wait for a shuttle to move them to their destination.

These are not ordinary commuters. These are people in pain, with walking difficulties or disabilities, and often elderly. There is little shelter from rain and the cold as they wait and we hardly need to be reminded that winter is coming. The surface is uneven and woefully underlit at night. A portacabin lacked heating when The Press visited.

The Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB), which pays for the park and ride service and a security guard, is unhappy but seems to have put forward no alternative. But it is the attitude of the site's owner that is truly dismaying.

Car park owner Alan Edge told a Press reporter that he lacked sympathy for those who use his facility, was not making a profit from it and could close it down at any time. It is unfortunate that the CDHB and the people it serves are at the mercy of an owner who sees his business in such cold, black and white terms.

It was supposed to be a "temporary" fix but how long is temporary? The park and ride service started in 2015 and Christchurch Hospital's new car park building will be open no earlier than the end of 2020. It has been the cause of bad blood between the CDHB and the Ministry of Health before building has even started.

Hospital car parking has become a long-running and depressing saga. Safety has often been a concern. There have been reports of nurses abused and accosted as they return to their cars after long shifts.

Parking on the street is at a premium near the hospital, with private houses, a high school and sports fields and courts nearby. Private operator Wilson Parking runs car parks that are only marginally more appealing than Edge's car park, and more expensive. But Wilson Parking is an entirely commercial operator whereas Edge owes this part of his business to our publicly-funded health system.

Can we really expect another two, perhaps three, years of this? We should hope for better.

The earthquake was seven years ago. Cantabrians quickly became used to cold, damaged houses, munted roads and stretched services. Our resilience became famous, even if it may have really been a stoic tolerance of conditions no one should have to accept for long.

But surely enough is enough. There are times when it becomes clear that we have put up with too much for too long in post-earthquake Christchurch. This is one of those times.