“It’s very frustrating, it gets in the way of people’s amenity, they can’t use the grassy area and it damages the grass, it’s selfish,” said Redcliffs Residents Association secretary Pat McIntosh.
“It’s upsetting the local residents and sometimes people have been blocking the coastal pathway with their vehicles.”
Fellow Redcliffs residents, Don Simpson and Peter Crowe, have been voices for concerned community members, pushing the issue not only to the Waihoro Spreydon-Cashmere-Heathcote Community Board, but the culprits as well – often met by expletives from the fishers.
“We’re pretty angry,” said Simpson.
Heathcote Ward city councillor Sara Templeton said the parking issue has been around for several years.
Since last March, parking officers have been put in place to monitor the reserve and hand out tickets when cars park there.
This was effective for a while, but the issue has worsened recently, said Templeton.
“We’ve had some complaints from the community that it’s gotten quite bad.”
Templeton, the residents’ association, Simpson and Crowe have been pushing to put more permanent measures in place.
“They tend to claim they don’t know they can’t park there, even though they’ve driven up on the kerb onto the grass,” McIntosh said.
The community board decided ‘no parking’ signs were not required and could set a precedent for drivers who may incorrectly assume it is acceptable to park in similar areas without any signage.
The board recommended that information signs would be more appropriate, in addition to the existing parking monitoring.
McIntosh also proposed small wooden bollards, but there is currently no funding to have them installed.
The association and aggravated residents are now waiting for a response from the board on what the next steps will be.
“It can be a right mess and a bit dangerous.
“There’s been dogs injured by the fish hooks,” said McIntosh.
Fishers and other visitors to the esplanade have also been guilty of taking rocks from the seawall to create casting platforms or makeshift pools.
