DCC blunder lands woman with $70 parking ticket

A Dunedin woman is questioning a parking ticket she received last Sunday when a sign right above the park shows paid parking was not required that day.

But it turns out the council has erred and the sign should not be there.

Alison Baker parked her vehicle outside First Church in Moray Pl on Sunday. Since the sign above the park said paid parking from Monday to Saturday, she did not feed the meter.

After a nice lunch, she returned to her vehicle and was shocked to find a $70 parking ticket.

As she worked nearby, she could have parked there off the street but saw no problem with parking on the street because she thought it was free.

She had not read anywhere that Sunday paid parking was being introduced and it was news to her when she found out.

The council might have introduced it, but many people did not know, she said.

Signs like the one she parked under just caused confusion. There were many signs round the area which said Monday to Sunday but others did not.

A Dunedin City Council spokesperson said the council had got it wrong and apologised for the inconvenience.

The situation arose because the area was, until Friday last week, part of a construction zone.

The council planned to replace signs in the area on Monday this week, but delays meant this was yet to be completed and outdated signs were still being displayed.

Ms Baker should contact the council and the infringement fee would be waived.

Paid parking on Sundays was introduced to parts of Dunedin’s CBD in early November. To April 26, Sunday parking revenue was $121,000.

In that time, 421 Sunday infringement notices had been issued, totalling $34,957, of which $9240 was for parking without payment, a $70 fine.