The NZ Automobile Association has welcomed Wellington City Council’s decision to bring its parking enforcement services back in-house from July 2014.

“This is great news for Wellington motorists. The AA currently receives more complaints about parking in Wellington than any other city, and the number of tickets and value of those tickets is proportionally higher than for any other metropolitan city,” says AA Principal Advisor Mark Stockdale.

“On average there have been 1.3 tickets issued per person per year in Wellington, 7 times as many as Auckland. The AA has been concerned that the contracting out of council parking enforcement in Wellington has incentivised ticketing.”

“The council’s decision to regain control of enforcement to provide better customer service and oversight of parking operations confirms that outsourcing enforcement has not worked. The AA hopes council-employed parking wardens will be focusing more on vehicle turnover and safety rather than revenue collection.”

The plan to extend the duties of parking wardens to become city ambassadors is also innovative and the AA believes will help improve the relationship between the public and parking wardens.

The AA also welcomes plans to improve parking payment methods and infringement appeals processes.

“Across New Zealand, one of the most common complaints we receive is about appeals processes. Drivers should be able to appeal online or by email. Likewise, increasing the use of cellphones for payment and to top-up parking should lead to increased compliance and less ticketing.

“The AA will be closely monitoring the return of council-controlled parking enforcement, and we expect to see less unfair parking tickets and complaints following the end of privatised enforcement,” Mr Stockdale added.  

For more information contact:

Mark Stockdale
Principal Advisor – Regulations
New Zealand Automobile Association
T. +64 4 931 9986
M. +64 21 434 097
E. mstockdale@aa.co.nz

The New Zealand Automobile Association is an incorporated society with over one million members. It represents the interests of road users who collectively pay over $2 billion in taxes each year through fuels excise, road user charges and GST.