A group calling itself Ngati Kura Inc is clamping cars at a popular Northland bay and charging $200 to release the vehicles.
Motorists "fined" by Ngati Kura Inc for parking illegally at Matauri Bay, 110km northwest of Whangarei, include Kamo Intermediate School, which paid $800 to avoid being marooned in squally weather.
Ngati Kura is a Matauri Bay hapu. The Far North District Council and the owners of land being policed by Ngati Kura Inc say the group does not have permission to clamp vehicles or fine motorists.
Two men acting on behalf of Ngati Kura Inc clamped four vehicles last week on a wet, windy day, and only released them after $800 was paid. The money was collected via an eftpos machine that a Ngati Kura Inc representative delivered to where the vehicles were parked on a grass verge in a cul-de-sac with yellow lines.
Kamo Intermediate School principal John Smith said he had tried to explain why the vehicles were parked near a sign stating there was no parking, but the men had said "it wasn't their problem".
Mr Smith had paid the money to avoid the school group being marooned. However, he now wants a refund and will write to Ngati Kura Inc.
The Kamo Intermediate class had been staying at nearby Lonsdale Park and had taken children to a surfing school at the bay last Thursday.
The weather had been wet and blustery, but sea conditions were safe.
The group had parked at the end of a cul-de-sac to drop the children off.
Because of the bad weather, a surf instructor had suggested leaving the vehicles where they were, as they were not blocking traffic and there was no one else around. Mr Smith said no one had seen a nearby sign stating there was no parking.
He had returned to the cars and found two men, aged 18-20, clamping them. The men were not aggressive or confrontational but were "less than helpful," Mr Smith said.
It took about 90 minutes to sort the situation out and Mr Smith received a receipt from Ngati Kura Inc, with a GST number and a Kerikeri PO box number. The receipt also said they had been parked in an "emergency landing area".
Mr Smith said there was no reference to an emergency area on the sign or during any conversation with the Ngati Kura Inc representatives.
A court-appointed administrator for landowner Matauri X, Kevin Gillespie, said the clamping and fines were "totally unauthorised" by the committee of owners.
"Matauri X owns the land but these guys think they can do what they like on it. I think some committee members have spoken to the police about it."
Kerikeri police Sergeant Phil Le Comte said if police were called over a vehicle being clamped at Matauri Bay he expected officers would order its release straight away or the clampers could face a charge of unlawful interference with a motor vehicle.
Former Maori Affairs Minister Dover Samuels, originally from Matauri Bay, said the clampers were from a group which, in the past, had tried to charge people to get across a bridge to Matauri Bay.
He likened the clamping to "Maori drivers' licences, Maori passports and similar ripoffs".