John Boulton was ticketed $40 for parking his ute with two wheels on the berm of his Lucca Cres property on August 16, 2024 at 10.45am.
Today Boulton lost his fight in the Christchurch District Court, but said the outcome was what he thought it would.
"The moral win is that we've got the story out there about what Selwyn District Council are doing to people."
"Win or lose I'd won already."
It was the first time the council has fought a ticket in court.
In court, the parking compliance officer, who was granted name suppression, said they were on the street responding to a different complaint and when they noticed Boulton's ute.
In cross examination Boulton asked the officer why they did not knock on the door.
They responded : "We don't knock on doors for the safety of our officers."
They said they do not give warnings for first offences because they cannot tell if it is the first offence.
In his statement, Boulton said before he was issued the ticket, he had been parking in the same spot without issue for four-and-a-half years.
He said he parked on the berm to allow enough space for vehicles to pass through.
On the day he was ticketed, Boulton said a truck was parked on the other side of the road and if he had not parked on the berm there would not have been enough space on the road for the likes of emergency vehicles to pass through.
The council's lawyer Sophie Meares asked Boulton why he did not park further down the road.
"I did not think of that at the time," Boulton responded.
"I'd raced home because we were going to a wedding and when I got home my wife was still out getting her hair done so I parked on the road."
When asked by Meares if he was aware of the bylaw which states you cannot park on berms in residential areas. He said he was not.
Meares said since 2022 the council had been running an education campaign about parking safely.
Boulton said was also not aware of that.
In making his verdict Justice of the Peace John Skipper said while he sympathised with Boulton he could not go past the "black and white" of the law.
Boulton will pay the $40 ticket plus $34 in court fees.
"$34 for court costs is nothing its cost council a lot more to drag me through to this stage, it would have been cheaper for them to wipe the ticket in the first place."
From October 1, 2023 to September 30 last year the council issued 2070 infringement notices amounting to $199,528.
That figure is more than 11 times the number of tickets handed out during the previous 12 months – 181 notices totalling $13,700.
The council issued more tickets for parking on grass berms than any other infringements, with 797 fines.
This was followed by tickets for incorrect kerb parking (331), no warrant of fitness (285), no registration (236), and parking on the footpath (205).
Said council head of regulatory Susan Atherton: "In this instance, Mr Boulton requested a court hearing on this matter. Our intention is to make things safer for everyone by managing parking safety, but it is important that people have the opportunity to appeal where they feel a mistake has been made and we accepted Mr Boulton’s request to be heard in court.
"We respect the decision of the court. It is useful to have our processes reviewed and we are pleased that they were upheld in this case. We will take some time to review the comments made in the decision and consider if there are any changes needed.
"There was a fee to lodge the request for a hearing, the staff time spent on the case was part of their regular work requirements and was not recorded as there was no additional cost to the council."
