Auckland Transport does a U-turn on fines after ticketing cars stranded in floods

Residents of Dryden St in Grey Lynn clean up in the aftermath of the storms and flooding over the weekend. Photo / Alex Burton

Auckland Transport (AT) now says it will waive all infringement notices issued to cars following Friday’s unprecedented flooding.

AT had earlier said it had issued 259 infringements across Auckland over the last weekend.

In Browns Bay, a suburb that had been hard hit by the flood, officers issued 14 for parking violations and eight for no WOF or registration.

But group manager parking services and compliance, John Strawbridge, said this morning this will be waived due to the “unprecedented events”.

“Over the past few days Auckland Transport’s parking officers have been working across Auckland to support emergency services and our roading teams as they responded to Friday’s flooding and storm damage,” Strawbridge said.

“Although our parking team’s focus was on helping to clear blocked roads and support public safety, we have been made aware of cases where people in flood-affected areas were issued with various infringements.”

These actions have been heavily criticised, with many calling them “heartless”.

On Wednesday, deputy mayor Desley Simpson said this was “not good enough” and that she would speak to the chief executive.

In the statement this afternoon, Strawbridge said: “Due to the unprecedented events of the past few days, Auckland Transport has authorised the waiver of all infringement notices issued between 2pm Friday 27 January and 9am this morning.”

He said officers will continue to respond to requests for service across Auckland “to support the community as we recover from this severe weather event”.