KEY POINTS:
Parking fines throughout New Zealand may be in doubt after a council admitted it got it wrong and offered to reimburse motorists nearly $80,000 in tickets it dished out.
Christchurch City Council yesterday agreed that $77,840 in fines, affecting 1946 motorists who parked mostly on grass verges, should be returned if the motorists wanted it.
But Christchurch mayor Bob Parker urged people not to accept the reimbursement offered on "moral grounds", when it was simply the result of a "technicality" and the damage to grass verges had to be paid for.
"We are going to correct the error. But you don't have to ask for your money back," Mr Parker said. "I think if you were a good citizen, you wouldn't ask for your money back."
The technicality was detected in a nationwide Land Transport rule brought into effect in 2005, which for the first time required signs warning against parking to be placed at least every 100m along the likes of a grass verge. Christchurch council staff noticed recently that the required signs had not been in place.
The Christchurch council will be asking Local Government NZ and Land Transport NZ for a change in the rule so less signage is necessary.
The Wellington City Council had been aware of the problem "for some time", and had been in touch with the Government on it, a spokesman said.
"We'll be taking legal advice in terms of our own position regarding the ticketing of vehicles parked on verges - but we don't think that the numbers of tickets, and sums of money, involved in Wellington are as large as in Christchurch."
Auckland City Council said it avoided the Land Transport rule by using a different method to deal with vehicles parked on grass verges.
"The council works with officers from Auckland City Environments to issue a warning notice the first time that someone parks on the verge, and to act on the infringement and tow the vehicle on the second offence," said council parking operations manager (on-street parking) Rick Bidgood.
Christchurch mother Sophia Mardon frequently parks on the perimeter of Hagley Park. If fined once, she would not expect to get her money back "but if it's two or three times you would ask for it".
