The Queenstown Lakes District Council is treating claims poor signage and road marking have resulted in thousands of dollars of questionable parking fines as serious, but the issue of refunds as "hypothetical".
Former council parking chief Mike Darling, now living in Nelson, took his concerns to the Mountain Scene newspaper in an article published on Thursday.
QLDC transport manager Denis Mander told the Otago Daily Times yesterday council was "methodically" investigating Mr Darling's allegations that up to 65% of parking tickets going back as far as 1997 were possibly illegal.
Mr Mander said he expected the investigation to be resolved in two weeks but would not be drawn on the "hypothetical" issue of refunds if Mr Darling's claims proved to be true.
He said Mr Darling, who could not be contacted yesterday, had previously raised concerns about parking with the council, many of which had been addressed.
A P10 signed zone outside the Post Office on Camp St, which had contradictory loading zone road markings left over from nearby Ngai Tahu construction, was one of the contentious zones.
However, Mr Mander was confident no-one had been issued a ticket for parking on a loading zone.
"We're looking into the concerns Michael has raised and we just want to look at them in terms of how they fit the rules we have to follow and what action we have to take," Mr Mander said.
Council collects hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from parking fines.
Mr Mander said there were some markings that needed to be corrected and this would be done soon.
Lakes Environmental regulatory and corporate manager Lee Webster said revenue from parking infringements was dropping as the popularity of pay and display increased.
Mr Webster has been privy to the investigation sparked by Mr Darling's claims and confirmed Mr Mander and Mayor Vanessa van Uden had accompanied him on a tour of contentious parking spots.
"In a couple of areas there are technical issues, but I don't believe there are any issues of it being illegal," Mr Webster said.
