Richmond parkers choose fine option
All-day parkers in central Richmond are an ongoing problem and it appears some motorists prefer to pay a fine than find a parking space outside the town centre.
While parking is free on the streets of Richmond CBD, many spaces have time limits.
The fine for breaching those limits ranges from $12 to $21.
Just before 9.30am yesterday, the 60-minute restricted parks were full outside the Tasman District Council office and the nearby shops on busy Queen St.
In a report, Tasman District Council regulatory manager Adrian Humphries says the issue of all-day parking is ongoing ‘‘and seemingly some people would rather pay the fine than park further away’’.
For the six months to the end of March, 2566 parking infringements were issued across Tasman District and the income received totalled $124,945. More infringements – 2938 – were issued during the same period the year earlier but the income collected was less, at $96,362.
In the six months to the end of March, 843 infringements were before court, up from 791 for the same period the year earlier.
‘‘It should be noted that the court process can take many years to return money owed to council,’’ Humphries says. ‘‘We are still receiving income from over 15 years ago.’’
At a regulatory committee meeting yesterday, environment and planning manager Dennis BushKing said a reminder was sent first to people issued infringement fines who had not paid and then, if there was still no payment, ‘‘we send it off to court’’.
Despite the lengthy wait at times for payment, ‘‘we are generally recovering more than the going out of costs’’.
Development contributions are another source of income for the council.
They are charges levied on new developments such as subdivisions and buildings to help meet the cost of the additional demand on the council’s infrastructure from developments. That infrastructure includes the water, wastewater and stormwater services as well as the roads.
In the six months to the end of March, the council issued development contribution invoices worth just under $4.5 million.
That total was down slightly on $5.03m worth of invoices issued in the six months to the end of September 2019.
Meanwhile, despite the Covid-19 lockdown, the council issued 1345 building consents in the year to June, up from 1272 the previous year.
In a report, council building assurance manager Ian McCauley says that although the effects of Covid-19 over the next few months ‘‘remain to be seen’’, previously planned significant subdivision development is proceeding.