Toys just the ticket to cancel parking fines

Whangarei Salvation Army worker Irene Crooks, left, and Environmental Northland parking officer Lisa Pilcher with some of the new toys Whangarei motorists gave in exchange for parking fines. Photo / John Stone

The Christmas spirit is alive and well in Whangarei with eight big bags of new toys donated to the Salvation Army as people caught parking illegally in the city exchanged their parking fines for presents.

From December 1, Environmental Northland, which oversees Whangarei District Council's parking regulations, offered those issued with $10 parking tickets the chance to exchange the ticket for a toy to the value of at least $10 and have the ticket cancelled.

ENL parking officer Lisa Pilcher yesterday delivered the bags of toys to the Salvation Army to be distributed to the district's needy families as Christmas presents for their kids.

Ms Pilcher said some people spent far more than $10 on the toys they took in.

"It's a wonderful response. It's turning a negative situation [a parking ticket] into a positive one and it's great to give so many toys to the Salvation Army," she said.

And with the Toys for Tickets scheme ending on Monday, more toys would be donated.

Salvation Army co-ordinator Irene Crooks said the toys would help bring Christmas cheer to many Whangarei families on Christmas Day. Some of the toys would also be given to children who attend the Salvation Army's Christmas Day lunch at its Aubrey St family centre.

"We make sure everybody will leave with a present and it's just amazing the generosity of people at this time of year," she said.