New Zealand drivers could be fined for parking on grass verges that don't have 'no parking' signs

Drivers who park on roadside grass berms could face fines, even when there are no warning signs, under an idea floated by the Transport Agency. Photo / Google.

Drivers could be fined for parking on grass roadside berms that don't have "no parking" signs, under ideas floated in a national discussion document.

One Auckland local board chairman, who wants a crackdown on parking on grass verges, is enthusiastically supporting the idea, raised by the NZ Transport Agency.

But the Automobile Association says it would be a bad move that could result in many drivers, some of whom are trying to park safely on narrow streets, copping a fine without even realising they've broken the law.

Competition for parking as Auckland grows may have led to more drivers veering onto grass verges in some areas.

Under a new bylaw, the Christchurch City Council last year declared it an offence punishable by a fine to park on a grass or paved berm where there is a kerb.

Harry Doig, chairman of the Puketāpapa Local Board, headquartered in the Auckland suburb of Three Kings, said it receives numerous complaints about illegal parking on berms.

They involved drivers of private, delivery and construction vehicles, he said. Grass verges were being churned into mud by wheels and in some cases buried water pipes and other infrastructure was being damaged.

The Transport Agency notes that some roading authorities have passed bylaws and erected signs to ban parking on grass verges, such as where vehicles have damaged buried infrastructure. But it says the process is complex.

To simplify the rules, it proposes councils and other roading authorities specifically be permitted to add - to no-parking signs - generic text such as "on grass verges".

The agency's consultation document on the proposed rule change goes on to seek feedback on whether a broader change should be considered.

"We are aware that some road controlling authorities would like the explicit ability to impose a general prohibition on parking on grass verges, through a bylaw, without the use of a sign or other markings to notify the public of the restriction."

The agency asks, "What is the nature of the problem; for example, do vehicles obstruct visibility creating a safety risk or do they cause damage?"

The general ban is exactly what Doig wants. He said Auckland Transport had resisted issuing tickets to people parking unlawfully on berms if there wasn't a sign specifying parking was not permitted.

"We want to make it very clear that … Auckland Transport can pass a regulation that says in the Auckland region vehicles are not allowed to park on berms.

"Once that's made explicitly clear we can get Auckland Transport to enforce that because of the problems it's been causing."

An Auckland Transport spokesman said, "You can't parks on a berm if you're going to damage it. For blanket [no parking] on berms, the law does require that there is a sign."

He said parking on berms "is not a huge problem; it is a problem in some areas". Signs were gradually being put up, but some had been ripped out by the public.

Automobile Association spokesman Mark Stockdale said the national organisation would oppose any move to a blanket rule banning parking on berms.

"Our view is that it should be limited to council bylaws and that the default requirement should be signage where you want to prohibit parking because it has to be clear to everyone where parking is permitted or not."