Palmerston North City Council launches an educational campaign about safe parking

Cars parked across the footpath make it hard for mobility scooter and wheelchair users to get about safely. Photo / Dean Purcell

Palmerston North City Council has launched an educational campaign to remind residents and visitors of the importance of parking correctly.

Over the past year, it has noticed more and more people parking dangerously around the city, especially in residential areas. Between July 2022 and July 2023, it issued 228 tickets for people parking over cycle lanes and footpaths.

Parking over these spaces in both central streets and residential areas is the focus of the campaign.

Chief customer officer Kerry-Lee Probert says until the end of the year, people parking on footpaths and cycle lanes will receive a warning plus educational material. The warning will be logged and if they park unsafely again an infringement fine will be issued.

“We will continue issuing infringements for vehicles if they are parked on yellow lines and at bus stops.”

Next year, the council will return to issuing infringements to all people parking unsafely and breaking the law in all spaces, including on footpaths and cycle lanes.

“We know finding a park can sometimes be hard, and we know that people would never want to put another person’s safety at risk,” Probert says.

“Providing education about why never parking in these locations is important will hopefully ensure people stop doing this in our city. We don’t want to be issuing infringements for these things – we want Palmy to be a place where our roads and our footpaths are safe for everyone to use.”

Before January 1, if people log a complaint that a vehicle has parked on a footpath or cycle lane, wardens will attempt to visit the location if it was a recent complaint. If they find the vehicle the owner will be issued with a warning, plus educational material.

If the vehicle cannot be found, the owner will receive a letter stating their car was spotted parked in an unsafe situation, plus educational information.

“They cannot be issued warnings if our wardens do not see the vehicle parked like that,” Probert says.

Footpaths need to remain clear for people to use. This is especially important for people who have a disability, use mobility scooters, or are young children.

“When footpaths are blocked, people are having to either go onto a person’s property or move onto the road to get around.”

Parking in a cycleway puts people on bikes at risk. Cycleways are for people on bikes - not parked cars. If bike riders must veer around a parked vehicle, it’s more dangerous for them.

As well as parking wardens keeping an eye out for incorrect parking, people can make a complaint about unsafe parking via the Snap Send Solve app or at pncc.govt.nz/parkright.