Welcome to Panmure. We love Parking officers
Panmure, residents will tell you, is different from the rest of Auckland. It must be it's the only suburb that welcomes parking officers. Yes, while every other village whinges when the folks in felt hats turn up with their electronic ticketers, Panmure-ites reckon the
only way to win the battle of the parking space is to call in an army of the little . . . good people of the city parking service. Panmure's main thoroughfare, Queens Rd, lost 16 on street spots during a city council upgrade. Competition for bays is fierce. ''Parking is supposed to be regulated,'' says Ruawai Rd resident Muayad Dabbas. ''The signs state specific times. The only way people listen is when it's enforced. Traffic wardens are a good idea. ''I've never seen a single traffic warden,'' adds Morrin Rd's Kyle Mills. ''It peeves me off. I can never park near shops. If someone's watching and issuing tickets, maybe I'll get a space. Hit them with a big fine. That'll stop it.'' Panmure does have a warden, two days a week, and 570 tickets have been issued in the past three months. However, the days when Panmure had its own warden are long gone, says town centre manager Chris Sutton. People are being encouraged to report offenders to the council. Simply call a hotline and request a parking warden comes to issue a ticket. Another way is a ''parking blitz'', says Tamaki Community Board chair Kate Sutton. The idea, a success elsewhere in Auckland, was mooted at a meeting with council parking chiefs. All-day parking is available in Kings Rd and Pleasant View, and there are plenty of spaces with three-hour limits. But there's just ''no changing the lazy types'' who don't want to walk, says Paul Clapshaw, of Mountainside FM community radio station. More spaces will be lost, he adds, if the council continues with the upgrade and removes Panmure's infamous roundabout.
By Kris Hall
