Whangarei parking protests result in no charges for disabled spaces

David Seymour reckons today's council decision was a fair one.

Whangarei man David Seymour is calling it a "win for the little guys".

Mobility parking spaces will remain free for those with a mobility permit in Whangarei after the district council adopted its reviewed Parking and Traffic Bylaw.

Mr Seymour, who has motor neurone disease, made a plea to councillors at a meeting earlier this month for mobility parking to remain free after the draft bylaw included provisions to charge.

The bylaw was up for adoption by the council yesterday and after much discussion and changes back and forth to the wording of the bylaw, it was eventually passed.

As a result parking in mobility spaces will remain free.

"That's good. That was really my main objective."

He said councillors took his plea on board.

"You can't ask for more than that."

David Seymour. Photo/File

The previous bylaw did not say mobility parking spaces were exempt from paying but at some point parking wardens made an informal decision not to ticket mobility permit holders.

After a bungle about a year ago where a disability parking meter was installed revealed this was the case, the council decided to stick with not enforcing charges until the bylaw was reviewed.

Under the new bylaw, parking in standard carparks with a mobility permit comes with a few options.

For places which only have a time limit, mobility permit holders can park for double the amount of time in parking spots with time limits of up to two hours. So a one hour spot can be parked in for two, but a three hour spot must only be parked in for three.

In parks where there are no time limits but payment is required, such as Forum North, mobility permit holders can pay for half the amount of time they intend to stay. So pay for two hours and stay for four.

In parking spaces where drivers have to pay and there is a time limit, permit holders can pay for the first hour and stay up to the time limit.

"That's not unfair. It would have been great if it was free but you can't get everything you want," Mr Seymour said.

He said he didn't think that people with disabilities who are going to be staying for a long time in town would mind paying a little bit.

The bylaw comes into force today, but council would not start charging straight away.

Policy and bylaws analyst Shireen Munday said the council would undertake an education programme with the mobility permit community to understand the new rules.

"Only once we are comfortable that we communicated as wisely as we can, we would look at enforcing these rules."

She anticipated that would take two to three months.