‘Feeding’ of parking meters criticised

Press, 27 April 1983, Page 6

‘Feeding’ of parking meters criticised

Some Christchurch city councillors questioned yesterday whether parking enforcement officers should concentrate on drivers who “feed” parking meters after the maximum time limit has expired. A report from the council’s new enforcement section said it was surprising how many motorists were not aware that it was an offence to feed a meter, a practice which keeps vehicles for longer-than-in-tended periods in spaces designed for short-term parking.

Public utilities committee members were told that about half the parking infringement notices issued so far were related to meter feeding.

Cr Rex Lester, the committee’s chairman, said that allowing the practice to continue without adequate action against it “could have serious consequences” for traffic management. The enforcement report said that the supervising parking officer, who received explanations from offenders, had been “very considerate with genuine shoppers who have inadvertently exceeded the time limits.”

Main parking offenders, especially on meters, had been the staff of business and commercial firms. Cr A. J. Graham asked whether higher meter charges in some areas might discourage motorists from feeding meters. Cr Noala Massey said it

was important to give all shoppers a chance to find a short-term parking space. Those \yho want to spend more time in the city are expected to either use parking buildings or to park in unmetered territory further from the business district.

The enforcement report said that the number of offence notices issued had climbed since the changeover from Ministry, of Transport to City Council officers, but the number of persons wanting to make explanations for offences had decreased.

Before the transfer, the Ministry had received about 26 parking offence explanations a day, compared with a daily average of about six to the City Council office.