Seniors in parking ticket row

PAY UP: A sign outside Masterton Town Hall alerting drivers to pay for parking. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

Senior citizens who supported an Operatunity concert say they had the shine taken off their day when they emerged from Masterton Town Hall to find their cars had been ticketed - but the claim has been rejected by the district council.

According to the elderly people who say they ended up getting pinged for parking infringements, the concert ran for a little longer than expected and pushed beyond the two-hour parking meter limit outside the town hall.

Aversham House Rest Home owner Cheryl Powell has taken up the cudgel for the senior citizens, saying not only should they not be ticketed but parking should be free for the concertgoers.

"There should be exemptions for elderly people attending functions in the town hall put on specifically for them. They should not have to pay at all," she said.

Mrs Powell said a van from her rest home that had been used for transporting residents to the concert, and which had a mobility sticker displayed, had not been ticketed but other vehicles had.

She said it was no help that there was not enough parking anyway and "certainly not enough disabled parking".

"There is not even a drop-off area."

The Operatunity concerts are usually advertised as being of about one and a half hour's duration and cost in the range of $27 to attend, with lunch or afternoon tea included. The company that presents the concerts at venues throughout the country advertises them as being fun, informal and top quality variety shows.

Mrs Powell said it would be a different story if the elderly people had been parking in the carpark area to go shopping and overrun the time limit, but this was a case of being at a concert that had run over the expected time.

Responding to the claims elderly people were ticketed, Masterton District Council planning manager Sue Southey said no tickets were issued as a result of the Operatunity concert running longer than expected.

"We only issued two tickets during the whole of the day in question and neither were for overstaying.

"In addition, there wasn't a single ticket issued on the day of the previous Operatunity concert.

"We have asked Mrs Powell to give us the names of the people who claimed to have been issued with tickets, but she is unable to do so as she doesn't know who they were.

"She told us she just overheard some people talking about it.

"We have recently increased the number of mobility parking spaces in the town, and will continue to monitor demand and availability."