Editorial: Bermageddon averted by common sense

Cars parked on berms are often no impediment to pedestrians and have little impact on the landscape. Photo / Michael Craig

Editorial

EDITORIAL:

If Auckland Council was surprised at being rebuffed in its call to link arms with other councils around the country and ticket motorists for parking on berms, it really shouldn't have been.

The ill-considered and ill-fated plan was to create a law allowing councils to ban vehicles on street verges across swathes of residential roadsides - without putting up warning signs.

Mayor Phil Goff plainly stated his view before the Super City remit was soundly stalled at the conference in Wellington's TSB Bank Arena.

"We don't want a city with hundreds of signs saying 'do not park on the berm'. We want to have the ability to say 'these are the areas where it is illegal to park on the berm' and that's what we're pushing for at the Local Government New Zealand conference," Goff told a Herald video journalist.

"In areas where it is obstructing pedestrians and people who live in, the residents of those areas, whether it's digging up the grass and making a real mess ... no, we don't want that.

"The berm is there for a purpose and the purpose is not for parking."

So what is the purpose of a berm? A landscaped feature to separate areas with differing purposes. In our streets, they clearly buffer the divide between motoring space on the road and pedestrian environs. Rainwater and stormwater from the road can also permeate through the grass-covered soil.

But, let's be real, berms also provide overflow parking where spaces are limited. So long as drivers park slowly and carefully, clear of the footpath, and look out for pedestrians as they do so, what's the harm?

Waitemata board member Pippa Coom told the Herald that parking on berms could damage underground utilities, create safety issues for footpath users and rip up the grass, preventing berms soaking up and filtering stormwater.

To zone whole blocks of suburbs without signage would inevitably lead to unwary motorists being ticketed for infringing on a rule which they could have no way of knowing exists.

Surely, where this has been shown to have occurred, or is a very real and obvious threat, signs should be put up and strictly enforced. Motorists ripping up turf or breaking through pipes need to be fined for damaging public property.

To zone whole blocks of suburbs without signage would inevitably lead to unwary motorists being ticketed for infringing on a rule which they could have no way of knowing exists.

There will always be drivers who alight their vehicles in inappropriate places. The 840 safety complaints to Auckland Transport from the public about berm parking between August 2016 and August 2018 attests to this. But the key word here is "safety".

Automobile Association spokesman Mark Stockdale found the acumen Auckland Council needed when he said: "Most people across the country have to maintain and mow their berms, so there is an expectation you can park on them if needed, such as when you have extra guests for birthday parties, family gatherings or sports events."

If a parked vehicle is jeopardising safety, then the owner should be ticketed. Repeated offences should be met with loss of use of the vehicle. Areas where frequent acts of public endangerment occur should be signposted.