Finally, some good news for motorists
THERE’S been some good news for Kiwi motorists this week, with the Government announcing significant investments in the country’s roading network, and an amendment to the Land Transport Act that limits the amount wheel clampers can charge for unclamping a car to a maximum of $100, now in force.
While the vast majority of roading funds is tagged for projects further north, there is at least $90 million set aside for the Queenstown area. Hopefully that will contribute to improving traffic flows at key points on the current network.
That said, development in the Queenstown area is so rapid these days that a $90 million spend is more of a bandaid than longterm solution.
I suspect Wanaka’s roads are also going to need major investment from Central Government before too long. The same applies to Dunedin, whose main throughcity arterial network is already heavily congested even before the disruption of the hospital rebuild.
The wheelclamping change isn’t such a big deal in this part of the world perhaps, as the cowboy operators that have been charging double and sometimes more, than the now $100 maximum, mainly inhabit the larger cities to the north. But it is a welcome initiative nonetheless.
Having made this change, I wonder if the authorities might turn their minds to more effective regulation of parking fees. Most particularly, the frequently rapacious sums that a number of private parking firms charge to motorists who overstay their allotted parking time.
It’s probably a little known fact that there is a code of practice in place for parking, which sets out key requirements that most major private parking providers adhere to. It’s quite useful in many ways, but one vital area it is silent on is the matter of what represents a ‘‘reasonable amount’’ to charge a motorist when they have overstayed their parking time.
As a result, we have a situation where charges (technically called ‘‘breach notices’’) can be $60 or more for motorists a few minutes late back to their car, when the standard hourly fee for parking at the same spot is a 10th of that amount.
Until such time as there is decent regulation, may I suggest that motorists who are stung by unreasonable breach notices from private parking companies, contest them. Both the Automobile Association and the moneyhub financial advice service offer free advice via the web to help in this situation.
This advice includes offering to pay a lesser sum than that being asked on the basis that whatever is charged needs to be fair and reasonable. The amounts charged by your local authority might be a useful guide; here in Dunedin, for example, DCC parking fines start at $15 for an overstay of up to half an hour, and don’t exceed $30 until the overstay has been at least two hours.