It's `bloody selfish' to steal parks

Parking in spaces reserved for the disabled is apparently too tempting for some Whangarei motorists - but catching the culprits is no easy task.
Keith Thompson, manager of Environment Northland, which enforces parking restrictions, said able-bodied people taking disabled parks was a fairly big problem in Whangarei.
"Yes, I think there is a problem here. It's pure and bloody selfishness, is what it is."
However, the Northern Advocate checked out most of Whangarei's disabled parking spots on a recent weekday and found few ineligible motorists.
Of some 60 spaces observed over a three-hour period, only three vehicles were parked without displaying the CCS mobility cards.
Of those three, one elderly woman had her card in her bag, and another vehicle belonged to a courier unloading heavy boxes at Whangarei library.
He was clear about his reasons for using the space - it was the only park within a short walk from the library entrance.
"What's the alternative? You know, sometimes you've got eight boxes and they don't give you anywhere else to park. We can't drive up on the footpath," the courier driver said.
The third vehicle was parked outside a dairy and occupied by four able-bodied young men.
But Mr Thompson said the Advocate's findings highlighted the problem of ticketing the culprits, as they were most commonly couriers and "five-minute shoppers".
As they were stopping only a short while, they believed they were not causing any inconvenience.
By the time one of his five wardens arrived, the vehicle had usually left.
The possible introduction of wheel clamping rather than simple fines would be far more effective in driving the message home to those in a hurry, Mr Thompson said.
Whangarei mobility park user Linda Clarke said it was impossible to realise the importance of the parking spaces until you were disabled. And she said even council workers could be culprits.
"About a month ago I was parked in the Forum North library carpark, and this council car pulled up beside me, and this woman got out and disappeared into the library.
"In the meantime a car had pulled up with a wheelchair on her roof. The council woman came back and said `I'll only be a minute'. Then she unloaded all her stuff into the library ... The disabled driver had nowhere else to park."
But ultimately, the issue could only be truly resolved with an attitude shift by able-bodied people, he said.
"I'd like to see them play the game. If you can walk, then park a bit further away."