373 percent increase in parking tickets in two Queenstown neighbourhoods

The Queenstown Lakes District Council has issued close to 25,000 more parking tickets in the year ending June 30 than it did the year before, with dramatic increases in enforcement in Hanley's Farm, Jack's Point, and Arrowtown contributing to the year on year jump.

In the 12 months starting July 1, 2023, the council dished out 71,010 infringement notices for problem parking, up from 46,125 in the 2022 to 2023 year.

It reflects a 54 percent increase.

(Image: QLDC)

Of the total, 41,047 of the tickets (57.8 percent) were issued by patrolling parking wardens and 29,963 (42.2 percent), by officers observing CCTV footage.

The figures come from an annual report on parking enforcement presented to the mayor and councillors two weeks ago at a closed door briefing.

According to the report, motorists on Shotover Street are keeping enforcement officers busy, accounting for 24.4 percent, or 17,336, of the infringements issued.

"The pressure on the CBD has returned and (is) exceeding pre-Covid levels," the report says.

"This along with reduced parking spaces in the CBD is creating challenges for the community to find appropriate parking places."

The report also shows the number of infringements issued in the Hanley's Farm and Jack's Point neighbourhood increased by 372.53 percent, from 91 in 2022 to 2023 to 430 in 2023 to 2024.

In May, Crux reported on a pre-dawn parking ticket blitz at Hanley's Farm, with the council saying the area was targeted by its enforcement officers on kerbside rubbish collection day.

Meanwhile, Arrowtown saw a 292.04 percent increase in infringements issued, from 465 to 1,823 - 1,705 of these from CCTV monitoring.

This township has also come under the Crux spotlight after the owner of a food delivery company estimated he had received $5,000 in parking fines in the first half of this year in the course of dropping off supplies to Arrowtown businesses.

The report notes an increase in parking complaints received by the council - 2,467 in total and close to 30 percent more than the year before.

But it also notes an increase in "community dislike" to parking rules and receiving infringements, particularly in the Queenstown CBD, where staff suspect motorists are opting to ignore the rules in favour of just getting a ticket and paying it or challenging it.

The report shows the council received 6,251 waiver requests for the year, of which 4,279 or 68.45 percent were waived.

"The high number of granted waivers does not mean the tickets were not valid," the report says.

"A large volume are waived with education and a warning, particularly where there is a first time offence. This is in line with the QLDC enforcement and prosecution policy."

At the end of the year, the officer error rate was sitting at an "acceptable level" of 99.79 percent, with a KPI set at 99.5 percent, the report says.