Ticketed for parking, despite permit

Port Chalmers resident Ryan Henry is unhappy that both he and his father-in-law were ticketed for...
Port Chalmers resident Ryan Henry is unhappy that both he and his father-in-law were ticketed for parking facing the wrong way outside his Bellevue Pl house despite paying for a permit to park there. Photo by Linda Robertson.
A Port Chalmers resident has slammed the "revenue gathering" of Dunedin City Council parking officers after he and two others were ticketed for parking the wrong way on a quiet Port Chalmers residential street.

Ryan Henry, his father-in-law and another motorist were ticketed for parking the wrong way in Bellevue Pl on Wednesday afternoon.

But Mr Henry said he had always parked in the opposite direction as there was no parking on the other side of the road and attempting to turn in the steep and narrow street could be hazardous in winter.

"We have had the house since the 1920s," Mr Henry said.

"This is the first ticket.

"It’s how we have been parking in our family since my granddad used to park the horse and cart the wrong way there —  and he never got ticketed either."

Mr Henry had paid $116 for a licence to occupy the road reserve outside his house and he wondered what the purpose of the permit was if it came with conditions.

"It just says licence to occupy road reserve for one year from start date," he said.

"We pay to occupy that space.

"They haven’t put on there that we can only park one way."

He felt the ticketing of his visiting father-in-law was particularly mean-spirited.

The pensioner parked facing the wrong direction, as he could not get out of his car without the door closing on him if it was parked in the other direction.

"My father-in-law was visiting at the time, who has cancer and is on dialysis, he can’t get out of the car if it’s facing up [the street]. It slams back on him," Mr Henry said.

Both tickets were for $40, but "it’s actually not about the money".

"We already pay $116 to use the street, but they are ticketing us when there’s no parking to face the other way," he said.

He had seen a car go over the cliff on the side of the road and "it wouldn’t be so good" an outcome for him or his father-in-law, he said.

"I’d like to know why they never ticketed my grandfather when parked his horse and cart the wrong way," Mr Henry said.

Attempts to discuss the matter with the council’s acting parking enforcement team leader were directed to the communications team.

In response to questions by the Otago Daily Times, council compliance solutions manager Ros MacGill said, in an emailed statement, "parking warden staff were responding to a complaint from a member of the public".

"Three infringement notices were issued in Bellevue Pl for vehicles parked facing the wrong way — which is against the law".

A further question about whether a licence to occupy the road reserve changed the circumstances went unanswered.

timothy.brown@odt.co.nz

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