New Zealander paints his own parking restrictions

A New Zealand man who has unlawfully painted yellow line parking restrictions outside his house in Wellington for the last 20 years says he has done so to improve road safety and to protest against gentrification.

Russell Taylor said it was necessary to stop cars from parking dangerously in an increasingly busy street. The city council says the lines are illegal and will be removed.

Mr Taylor has lived on Holloway Road since 1979, he says he has painted the lines intermittently over the last two decades when the parking problem in his street has become especially bad.

The roads have changed a lot since he has lived there and a lot more people now have cars. Mr Taylor sees it as a protest against the failure of the council to take action.

"Cars park on blind corners, and on occasions fire lorries and rubbish collection vehicles have been unable to turn around because vehicles are parked on both sides of the road.

"More recently we have had the additional problem of drivers going far too fast down our narrow street."

A city council spokesman, Richard MacLean, told Stuff New Zealand that it was aware there was a parking problem in Holloway Road, and it will shortly be discussed by residents and councillors.

The spokesman added that it was unlikely that Mr Taylor would be punished for his long-running, unofficial road-marking campaign.

Councils make £819m from parking charges

A study done by the RAC has suggested that English councils generated £819m from parking fees and fines in 2016-17, an increase of 10% on the previous year.

This figure represents income from parking charges and penalty notices with running costs deducted.

The Local Government Association said parking charge surpluses were spent on "essential transport projects".

Income collected by the 353 English local authorities was up 6% and costs rose 2% compared with 2015-16, when the surplus was £744m.

RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding said the rise in profits reflects the "record number of cars and volume of traffic".

Martin Tett, the Local Government Association's transport spokesman, said parking charges keep the roads clear, help pedestrians, motorists and cyclists safe and enable people to park near their homes.

They also go towards tackling the UK's £12bn roads repair backlog, he added.

An annual report from the Asphalt Industry Alliance this year found that almost a fifth of roads in England and Wales were in "poor" condition.

Top 10 councils in England with the largest parking operations surplus:

1. Westminster £73.2m
2. Kensington and Chelsea £32.1m
3. Camden £26.8 m
4. Hammersmith and Fulham £23.1m
5. Brighton and Hove £21.2m
6. Wandsworth £20.5m
7. Islington £19.1 m
8. Haringey £14.6m
9. Hackney £14.5m
10. Hounslow £12.0m

Source: the RAC Foundation 

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Pensioner receives parking ticket for leaving her car across her own driveway

Rita Oystenan 82 year old pensioner has been left outraged after being slapped with a fine for parking across hew own driveway, having never had any  issues parking in the same location for over two decades.

After receiving the  penalty notice on March 23 she complained to the council.

Rita, of Bridlington, East Yorks., said:

“In the morning, I backed my car out and parked it across my drive – and I got a penalty outside my own house.

“I have done this for around 20 years and no-one has ever said anything before.

“Can’t I park across my own drive?

“I’m elderly and I don’t like backing out when it’s busy so I do it in the morning.

“It’s terrible parking in Bridlington as it is. We have got a new traffic warden, but I don’t know if it’s her [who gave me the ticket].

“My daughter-in-law has a chalet and when she has come and parked across the drive no-one has ever grumbled.”

However, the East Riding of Yorkshire Council are refusing to waive the ticket.

A spokesperson said: “The resident was issued with a penalty charge notice for parking outside of the bay marking.

“She submitted a challenge to the serving of this parking penalty notice (PCN) but that challenge was rejected by the council.

“She has further opportunities to appeal which have been explained in a letter.”

Rita added: “It says in their letter that I can challenge this by writing again, but I can’t be bothered with that.”

Source Sun