Plans for a campervan park in central Christchurch have been abandoned in favor of developing additional car parking spaces. Local investor Liz Harris initially secured resource consent in 2024 to establish a facility accommodating 25 tourist campervans or motorhomes on Gloucester Street, between Madras and Barbadoes streets. The proposed site would have been the only dedicated campervan park within the central city, offering powered parking spots across a 2,000-square-meter area, along with bathroom and laundry facilities.

However, Harris has since received a new resource consent to create a temporary 65-bay car park on the same site for a five-year period. She cited the high cost and complexity of meeting regulatory requirements as reasons for dropping the campervan park plan. Harris also noted significant demand for car parking in the area, adding that feedback from local stakeholders strongly favored additional vehicle parking over campervan spaces.

The land has been used as temporary parking in the interim. Located near the city’s east frame housing zone and other intensified residential developments, the site is surrounded by new townhouses and apartments, many of which lack off-street parking options. This context has contributed to the demand for more car parking facilities.

Previously, the property housed the Stonehurst Hotel and an adjacent motel block, both of which operated as hostel-style visitor accommodations with a small camping ground before being demolished following the 2011 earthquakes. Harris also owns a neighboring former Stonehurst house and two rows of townhouses situated behind the property.

The decision reflects the complexities of developing tourism infrastructure within a growing central city area facing competing needs for residential and vehicle accommodations.