Minutes of Meeting held Monday 27 August 2007
Wellington City Council
Present:
Celia Wade-Brown Living Streets Aotearoa
Liz Thomas Living Streets Aotearoa
Louise Cheetham Living Streets Aotearoa
Bruce Stokell Wadestown Residents Association
David Fowler Vogeltown/Mornington/Kingston Residents Association
Don McDonald Living Streets Aotearoa
Lily Linton Living Streets Aotearoa
Kim Keene
Barry Jelbert
Jennifer Lawless Living Streets Aotearoa
Jenny Clark Living Streets Aotearoa
Brent Efford Living Streets Aotearoa
Martin Hunt Living Streets Aotearoa
Willemyn Vermaat Living Streets Aotearoa
Robert Davies Living Streets Aotearoa
Debs Moir Living Streets Aotearoa
Guest Speakers:
Wayne Tacon Property and Parking Manager, Wellington City Council
Greg Parlane Tenix Wellington Parking
Colleen Thessman Manager Parking, Wellington City Council
1. Guest Speakers: Discussion around Footpath parking and other parking issues
· There is a review of Wellington City Council’s parking policy currently underway including issues such as accessibility for people with disabilities; this review is due to go to the Councillors late September
· The Law (Transport Act) says people cannot park on a footpath however Wellington City Council (WCC) chooses to implement that with discretion:
- the inner city is a zero tolerance policy zone
- the suburbs are enforced with a little more flexibility (eg. sometimes the footpaths and/or the roads are not wide enough)
- the wardens are asked to take into account a number of factors and use their discretion
· The perception is that people will do what WCC asks them while there is enforcement present but will then revert to old behaviour
· Issue raised of what happens when the footpath is less than 1m wide (the minimum width required). In this situation it depends on the width of the road and sometimes cars parked make it difficult for buses to get through
· In the inner city it is sometimes necessary to take into account the situation eg a glazier dropping off windows (wardens must give a 6minute grace period) – wardens cannot cover every part of the city and suburbs
· WCC believes education is important as people need to understand why they should not be parking illegally
· Clarified that if part of a vehicle is in the public domain then it is illegal (eg. vehicle parked in driveway with part of it on the footpath)
· Parking enforcement is a contentious issue with the public as there are often suggestions that it is only for revenue generation (approx. $4.4 million/year revenue from parking enforcement) – more severe measures such as towing are seen as punitive by WCC and seen as further revenue generation by the public
· There are also regular comments that people are parking on the footpath to stay out of the way of other vehicles – people believe they are doing the right thing
· It is not just a Council issue to instruct drivers of their obligations
· Approximately 100 caution notices were issued last year – these are given at the discretion of the parking warden and usually come down to an issue of road safety
· Approximately 20,000 letters and 40,000 phone calls are received per year where people think they should not have been ticketed - most complaints received about parking enforcement notices received are from the suburbs
· Communities often decide what they will accept and that dictates how WCC responds in terms of enforcement
· A new leaflet is being produced that will discuss WCC’s policy on parking – this will be inserted with replies to complaints
· Non-motorised blockages (eg. skips) cannot be enforced – no requirements for them to have flashing lights but must have reflective strips for safety
· If we want more revenue from enforcement to go towards keeping vehicles off footpaths rather than being spent on infrastructure, we need to lobby our Councillors!!
2. Minutes from July Meeting
· Confirmed
3. Bio-Blitz
· Celia suggested this could be an idea to tie in with promotion of the Marine Reserve (starting 29th September).
· Living Streets Wellington to lead a City to Sea walk Sunday 14th October at 10am
Action: Liz, Celia, Mike and anyone else interested to lead this.
4. Victoria University Travel Plan
· Willemyn submitted comments and is happy to act as a Living Streets Wellington spokesperson
· The plan is currently at phase two of six phases
Action: Liz to send out the travel plan and Willemyn’s comments to those present
Louise to organise a meeting between Willemyn and Mike
Meeting closed at 7.25pm