Parking ticket row: Highest court rejects Dunedin councillor Lee Vandervis' appeal

Dunedin City councillor Lee Vandervis. Photo / ODT

A Dunedin City councillor's legal battle after being pinged with a $12 parking ticket is now over.

Cr Lee Vandervis was today declined leave to appeal by the highest jurisdiction in the country - the Supreme Court.

His appeal raised "no point of public importance" not was there any appearance of a miscarriage of justice, ruled the court.

On September 13, 2019, Cr Vandervis received the parking ticket after exceeding the time limit in his 30-minute spot.

He then remonstrated with a customer-service staff member who later emailed then council chief executive Dr Sue Bidrose to make a formal complaint over his conduct.

That resulted in David Benham being brought in to independently investigate.

He decided after a preliminary assessment that the complaint warranted a full inquiry and he gave his results to the council after interviewing all relevant parties.

Cr Vandervis was eventually censured.

In 2020, he challenged the legitimacy of the process through judicial review in the High Court, which was dismissed.

The next year, he appealed that judgment in the Court of Appeal, which similarly knocked him back in a decision released in June.

Cr Vandervis sought leave to bring the case before the Supreme Court but that was declined in a four-page judgment released today.

He was ordered to pay costs of $2500 but that figure may be far greater given the earlier adverse results.

Before the Supreme Court decision, Dunedin City Council confirmed the entire episode had cost it more than $100,000: $14,148 for the initial investigation; $56,678 for the High Court case and $30,856 for the Court of Appeal.

The council previously confirmed a third party had paid the $12 ticket.

Cr Vandervis has been contacted for comment.