QLDC tops country listing of biggest parking ticket issuers

by Lauren Pattemore - May 14, 2024

Residents and visitors in the Queenstown Lakes pay more in parking fines than anywhere else in the country.

The Queenstown Lakes District Council earns $49.93 per capita per year from people breaking local parking rules, and that's higher than the per capita amount received by other local authorities.

Coming in second is the Hutt City Council, which generates $34.53 per capita per year from parking fines, and in third, the Porirua City Council, with $19.29.

The controversial claim to fame was revealed by consumer issues show 'Fair Go', during its final episode aired last night (Monday, May 15).

TVNZ journalists surveyed councils around New Zealand about how much revenue parking infringements generated for them, as well as highlighting a handful of cases of drivers on the receiving end of what they claim to be unfair or overzealous ticketing - including one below Queenstown's Skyline gondola.

According to Fair Go, quite a few Kiwi councils don't issue parking tickets at all, and the bottom five that do - councils in Ruapehu, Stratford, Selwyn, South Taranaki and Ōpotiki - earn less than $0.70 per capita from them.

The show notes that not all councils replied to their survey, meaning QLDC tops respondents only.

Queenstown Lakes locals have taken to social media in response to the news.

"More to the point how much profit does the QLDC contracted enforcement provider make off this activity? The purpose of parking tickets is primarily to help move traffic along and free up parking spaces for other users," one commentator asks.

Another points out it is hardly a fair comparison, when the number of tourists in the area on any given day is factored into the equation.

"Have you considered perhaps the number of tourists here relative to the population size?," they ask.

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Main image (Facebook/Fair Go)