Special meeting called on parking

Press, 16 June 1983, Page 8

Special meeting called on parking

Parking problems in the north-east quadrant of Cathedral Square will be discussed this afternoon at a special meeting called by the Christchurch City Council. The problems arise from a long-standing conflict between a group of motorcyclists and the tenants of nearby commercial buildings, including the Savoy

Theatre. The motor-cyclists recently received council authority to park in the area adjacent to the C.M.L. building. Some tenants object to the motor-cyclists’ presence, and so the council has called today’s meeting to review the matter. A spokesman for the motor-cyclists, Mr J. K. Bennett, has responded to

complaints of harassment, swearing, drinking, and assault. The complaints, by tenants of the C.M.L. building, were contained in a report to this month’s meeting of the council’s works and traffic committee. Mr Bennett said that “occasional whistling and mild swearing” was not harassment. He was unaware of

any drink-related problems involving the motor-cyclists in the last eight years. He knew of only two assaults — one involved his being pushed through a window of a shop, and the other incident occurred when a motor-cyclist from out of town had had a disagreement with a traffic officer. An Addington motorcyclist, who is a regular

visitor to the Square, has also defended the group’s presence. Miss Rose Monson said that she could not blame the public for being apprehensive towards motor-cyclists, because of recent gang troubles. “But we are not a gang, and we have not given the public any reason to avoid the area,” she said.