New parking restrictions at Banks Peninsula boat ramp after people flout rules

By Samantha Mythen

Boat shed owner Hayden Yessev has had enough of vehicles illegally parking by the Duvauchelle public boat ramp.

He said he has seen some vehicles overstay the 10min parking restriction by up to 13 hours.

Yessev has been lobbying the city council for clearer parking signage for nearly a year. Over the Christmas period he saw a car overstaying the limit almost every day.

This is creating issues for others wanting to access the space.

The parking restriction is next to the Duvauchelle boat ramp and has the short time duration to allow marine users to efficiently access the water.

Said Christchurch City Council transport operations manager Steffan Thomas: “The parking restriction is in place to provide opportunities for boat ramp users to load and unload equipment and passengers before parking elsewhere.”

“The boat ramp is a busy facility that is subject to high demand at peak times for access and parking.”

Yessev’s persistent campaigning appears to be paying off.

On November 16 last year, the decision was made by the Banks Peninsula Community Board to decrease the parking time limit to 5min and to design the area as a loading zone rather than a parking area. The city council approved this change and new 5min loading zone signs are soon to be installed with new road markings also put in place.

A city council spokesperson said traffic operations staff had visited the site on numerous occasions to investigate the issue prior to the board’s decision.

“The P5 loading zone will reinforce that it is not a place to park for extended periods of time and that users must be actively loading and unloading within the space,” Thomas said.

“I suspect it’s not always the boat owner parking there, but their mate who is new to the area who doesn’t see the sign. Hopefully, the new signage and clearer road markings will make it more obvious,” Yessev said.