Invercargill resident Melvin Butler is taking his ongoing complaint about motorists having to register their vehicles before parking, to Internal Affairs.
Despite winning a case against the Invercargill City Council in February that the existing Parking Control bylaw had not authorised that requirement, his frustration was that the ICC still haven’t learnt and included it in a revised form anyway. Related: Invercargill City Council to Cancel and Refund $500k in Parking Fines
The ICC had to pay out almost $500,000 to more than 12,000 motorists for infringement notices worth $40 each, for inconsistent messaging around failing to not register license plates.
Following a hearing in early July to hear from submitters about its bylaw, the ICC simply changed the wording to make it legal and streamlined the payment process to ensure fair usage of parking spaces around the city. The amendments still have to be signed off by council at its next meeting.
The proposed bylaw introduces a new requirement for parking a vehicle to pay the prescribed parking fee for the intended parking time, immediately upon parking in a metered parking area.
All vehicles, including those intending to park for less than thirty minutes within the free timeframe, must register their vehicle plate in the parking meter. This registration process is mandatory for all vehicles using metered parking spaces.
The bylaw also specifies the creation of a breach if a vehicle is parked in an Authorised Vehicle Park without an active Authorised Vehicle Permit.
Council acknowledged that recent events have identified that wording of its current bylaw, and the wording of the infringement notices have been inconsistent, and that greater clarity was needed in some areas.
“Our proposed changes include clarifying definitions and some language used including a clearer description of the charging process, including the requirement that all vehicles need to be registered into the system even if planned to be there less than 30 minutes.”
Failing to enter a license plate comes with a $40 fine, compared with just $12 for overstaying the time limit in parking area.
Melvin believes that the imposition of a license to use a free carpark is an unreasonable restriction that is not demonstrably justifiable.
“Additionally, there is no signage available to define the metered parking area as requiring a condition that plates are registered. Apart from that it is unworkable for a person who is visiting Invercargill to be made aware of the requirement to register their “plate” when using a free vehicle park. There is no suitable signage prescribed under the traffic devices legislation to notify residents and visitors that they are parking in an area that requires registration of their plate,” Melvin said.
Members of the public who believe they are entitled to a refund should visit: Council Refund Request Page and complete the refund request form.