New "parking friendly" notices to warn out-of-town motorists about parking offences will be issued in Dunedin during the lead-up to the Rugby World Cup next month.
Realising "a significant influx" of visitors would be arriving in the city, the council's parking enforcement team had decided to adopt a "friendly but firm" approach by using the new notices, council officials said.
Council development services manager Kevin Thompson said council staff believed it would be more hospitable to offer a friendly warning, with more focus on education, rather than issuing the usual more formal warning tickets.
World Cup visitors were expected to comply with parking rules, but council parking staff would be taking a more flexible approach to enforcement involving visitors in rental vehicles, rather than simply issuing parking tickets.
The new notice, headed "A Friendly Warning", states it is "not a ticket" but reminds motorists they may receive one if they committed any of a series of offences, including parking on a footpath, parking facing on-coming traffic or within 1m of a vehicle entrance.
Parking on grass verges damaged the environment and inappropriate parking often posed safety problems, such as cutting visibility by parking too close to intersections, he said.
But council staff wanted out-of-town visitors watching World Cup matches to have positive experiences rather than paying parking ticket charges for offences they might not be familiar with, he said.
