Time called on parking limits

A circle of Carterton business owners and workers are up in arms about "crazy" side street parking limits they say threatens their trade.

Leia Cooper, owner of Headquarters Hair & Beauty in Carterton, said three of her workers were last week hit with fines of $40 each for exceeding the one-hour limit in roadside parking spaces outside her business in Belvedere St.

Mrs Cooper said the fines handed down to her workers would be contested because information cited on the tickets was incomplete.

Crystal Thompson, Wild Oats bakery and cafe manager, said two workers from the cafe, which is located across the road from the beauty salon, also received tickets for similar offences the same day.

Carterton district did not have parking meters and the hour limit on Belverdere Rd ran both sides of the street from the High St roundabout to Masson St. The parking spaces in High St had 90-minute limits and, in Holloway St, the limit was 30 minutes.

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Mrs Cooper said the time limit was too restrictive for her customers, who needed more than an hour for their appointments, and she believed two hours would be ideal.

She had run her business at the corner of Belvedere Rd and High St for the past three years and had raised her concerns with council after a similar round of parking fines about 18 months ago.

"The frustrating thing is that 90 per cent of my clients take longer than an hour and the tickets will be going to them. Also, my elderly clients can't be expected to park miles away in the rain. It just won't work."

Peter Morton, partner in Belvedere Rd accountancy firm Herbert Morton, said the hour limit was "crazy".

His clients needed more than an hour to conclude their business, he said.

Ms Thompson said numerous customers at Wild Oats also needed more than an hour to dine comfortably.

"A lot come to eat before heading up town to shop or look around. Sixty minutes is too tight, especially on a side street. It's working against the town," she said.

"It gives the overall impression that people aren't really welcome to stop and enjoy the town and what we've got, which is a shame."

Milan Hautler, Carterton District Council planning and regulatory manager, said the parking time limits had been in force since 2006 and "anyone can write to council" requesting an extension of limits.