Dame Kerry Prendergast wins stoush against her former local councilor over traffic ticket

Former Wellington mayor Dame Kerry Prendergast has won a dispute with her former councilor over $40 parking ticket.

In a just-released decision, two justices of the peace ruled that Wellington City Council (WCC) had failed to demonstrate that it had correctly designated the area of ​​Victoria Street, for which Prendergast was ticketed, as a footpath.

Prendergast told NZME the decision showed the council needed to be careful in its procedures.

“You can’t just decide that something is a parking ban unless you go through the proper legal process and announce it as a parking ban,” she said.

Council spokesman Richard MacLean said the council had only just received the decision and it would take a few days to consider the practical implications.

This includes the impact on those who have already received a parking permit in the area.

The council previously told NZME it issued 113 tickets for parking on a footpath between January and July this year.

Prendergast said she expects anyone who received a ticket in that area to receive a refund.

Prendergast, who was mayor of the capital from 2001 to 2010, did not deny parking in the area in January this year but claimed she “did not park on a footpath” for which she was ticketed.

In a statement prepared for the court, Prendergast said she parked her car on a paved section of the driveway between Dixon Street and Ghuznee Street.

There are no markings, signs or notices informing drivers that parking on the roadway is not permitted.

She said she disputed the ticket because the area was unclear and she claimed she did not park on the footpath.

At the October hearing in the Wellington District Court, senior traffic engineer Dennis Davis said the area in question had been designed for pedestrians and “the area is considered by the council to be a footpath”.

Davis also pointed to the proposed transportation resolution that made changes to the area in 2015, specifically related to improving pedestrian amenities.

“By improving these facilities into a tree-lined, pedestrian-friendly boulevard, Wellington City Council and its Central City Framework (2013) hope to increase footfall in the area.”

Prendergast, who represented herself at the hearing, called one witness, her husband and former Wellington city councilor Rex Nicholls.

Nicholls told the court that traffic control for the area involved a road and not slipways.

“If it was going to be a footpath, it would have to be designated as a footpath. A traffic resolution should have been put in place saying this little piece of land is a footpath.”

“This is definitely a piece of land that no one has designated,” he said.

The JPs agreed. The decision noted that the WCC had to demonstrate that it had issued a traffic resolution confirming what constituted road and footpath on Victoria Street.

It said no information had been provided to the court about the outcome of a consultation referred to in the proposed transport resolution or what steps had been taken to turn it into a resolution.

“No evidence was presented to conclusively prove that the proposed traffic decision became a properly approved traffic decision and was properly promulgated.

“The case has therefore not been proven beyond reasonable doubt. Charges dismissed. Defendant dismissed,” the decision states.

This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald.