Man fined for parking outside home
A Christchurch man wants his parking fine to be revoked after he was ticketed outside his house.
John Dale was issued with a $12 fine on February 28 after breaching the 120-minute time limit when parking outside his Shirley home on a day off.
‘‘It’s pretty disgusting when you can’t park outside your own house,’’ Dale said.
The time restrictions in Hercules St were put in place by the Christchurch City Council about two years ago, because of the street’s close vicinity to The Palms shopping mall.
Dale was not able to park up his drive because flatmates’ cars were already on the property.
Dale said that while the ticket was not for a big sum of money, he refused to pay it because of the principle.
Council transport operations manager Steffan Thomas said the council’s parking appeals team would consider Dale’s ticket, but only if he submitted an explanation in writing.
Thomas said all vehicles were treated the same by enforcement officers but residents could apply for a parking permit.
However, residential parking permits cost $54 and Dale said he would not pay that.
‘‘Why can’t you park outside your own house for free. They just want the money.’’
The council’s new suburban parking policy states the fees were set to recover the costs of administering the scheme.
But Dale disputed whether restrictions were even needed on his part of the street.