Parking solutions coming to streets near Wellington Airport where car tyres were slashed

The streets around Wellington Airport had become notorious for tyre slashings. Photo / Frances Cook.

Wellington streets that became notorious for tyre slashings could soon get changes to the ways vehicles are parked.

Certain streets near Wellington Airport became the subject of a local feud, thanks to people parking their cars there for weeks at a time, rather than paying for airport parking.

Tyre slashing then became rampant through the area.

David Francis Johns is currently before the courts, accused of carrying out more than 300 tyre slashings.

Wellington City Council is now looking at what parking changes need to be made, with public submissions closing last week. The council received 160 written submissions on the matter.

Councillor Chris Calvi-Freeman said the simplest solution seemed to be a 24 hour parking limit, and a first look at the returned submissions supported that move.

"It's simple, it's easily understood, it's relatively cheap to implement.

"We'll do it through putting signs up at the entrance to the area, and the odd reminder sign within the area, rather than having to festoon the streets with signage every few metres.

"We won't be marking out any spaces on the road, which would have been difficult anyway, given that some of it is on unformed berms."

Calvi-Freeman admitted the issue had taken a long time to address.

But he said dealing with damage from the Kaikoura earthquake had been a "distraction" for council officers.

"I think, if you looked at social media, you'd find the odd person that said 'why don't we bring in a residents' scheme, and why don't we bring it in next week'.

"But that's not possible. There are processes that have to be followed, both in terms of the consultation and the legalities of the scheme."

The submissions are currently being formally analysed, with the results needing to be publicly notified.

The council hopes to bring in 24 hour parking around June.

The Herald checked the worst-affected streets on March 1, and found no cars with slashed tyres.