Masterton is getting new parking meters that will have:

  • card payment,
  • app payment,
  • cash payment, and
  • lots of great features that make them more useable for everyone.

You might have seen the orange hoods on lots of our current meters. These are broken and they're so old that no one in NZ can service them or get parts anymore.

We put $350,000 in the 2025-26 Annual Plan budget for this upgrade. We're taking the old machines out at the same time as the CBD watermain to reduce disruption.

The new meters won't go in straight away, there will be some time when parking is free in the CBD but the two hour time limit will still apply.

The new meters

We might not replace all the parking meters and we'll review the placements as part of this work, you can leave a comment on the map below if you have ideas about where they should go. We have put out a tender to buy new meters. These will be:

  • Accessible and simple to use
  • Accept card and app payments - some machines will still accept cash.

The tender for the work is currently on GETS, we're expecting to award the contract by early May.

So what's changing?

Lots! but also not much...

The machines will be similar to what you see in other towns and cities across New Zealand. They should feel pretty familiar and will give you more ways to pay. The biggest change will be how fines get issued. As part of this replacement we will be using licence plate recognition (LPR) technology to support the enforcement of parking rules. This will most likely be a car with the technology fitted to it. This system means that the rules are applied fairly and consistently. Some of our local supermarkets already use LPR technology to monitor their parking lots.

LPR vehicles record images of a vehicle and its number plate, tyre valve position, signage and GPS location. This information, along with the location's parking rules, show if a vehicle has overstayed or parked illegally. It’s the same technology used by lots of carparks with barrier arms.

The data uploads into the parking enforcement system. A parking officer checks the information before deciding whether to issue a parking ticket. Parking tickets will be sent to the registered owner via the post.

The LPR cars will operate within the requirements of the Privacy Act 2020. Images and video that are gathered will only be used by Masterton District Council for enforcement/evidential and occupancy survey purposes.

Video and images from the LPR cars will be securely stored for enforcement and any appeals, and then automatically disposed of from the Council’s infringement system in line with the Council’s retention policy. This is current practice for images collected by on-foot parking officers.