KEY POINTS:
Some might say it's simply semantics, but it was a serious situation for retired former Whangarei District Council employee Michael Millington.
Now his quest for correct use of the English language has uncovered a loophole in the council's bylaws and led to free parking - at least for now - for motorists driving vehicles that are more than 70 years old.
Mr Millington pointed out the error in the wording of clause 46.2 in the parking bylaw.
The clause says that a "driver of a vehicle over the age of 70 years shall be granted dispensation to park in any parking space that is either controlled by a parking metered or receipt display meter area free of any charge for the maximum time indicated on the meter, provided the vehicle is displaying an over-70 parking meter exemption card on the vehicle dash".
Mr Millington described the 33 pages of traffic bylaws as "nonsense" so he applied for free parking for a 70-year-old car.
"As the driver of a 1936 Morris 8, I applied for a concession card. The council would not give me one. They said that I personally had to be over 70," he said.
"I was just twisting words. They said what the clause was meant to say is that people aged over 70 may have concessions."
Mr Millington said the council was misleading the public and the council has agreed, granting free parking for vintage vehicles until the bylaw can be changed.
Council spokeswoman Ann Midson admitted it was an obvious grammatical error included in the bylaw at an early stage of its development.
"We are fortunate to have such vigilante residents who notice these things and bring it to our attention so that we can take remedial action," Ms Midson said.
"The bylaw is currently being reviewed and in the meantime, if anyone has a vehicle that is more than 70 years old and who wishes for it to have an over-70 parking permit, feel free to apply for one.
"We'll continue giving permits to people over 70 but if there are people who have cars that are over 70 who want to take advantage of this loophole, they can absolutely do it."
Ms Midson said the review of the bylaw could take some months.
After hearing the news, the captain of the Northland Vintage Car Club, Lyn Wrack, took her two grandchildren to town in a 1930 Plymouth, which she parked at the Forum North carpark.
She welcomed the council's decision to allow cars over 70 to park free of charge, saying it would only involve a handful of vehicles.
"Very few of these old ones are being driven now because of the heavy traffic."
- NORTHERN ADVOCATE
