City to trial new parking sensors

Solar-powered parking sensors are set to be installed in Palmerston North next month after the council agreed to trial a $2.5 million system developed in the city.

The final details are still being worked out, but the council has agreed to go ahead with the project, which will make it easier for parking wardens to know exactly how long vehicles have overstayed in parking spaces.

City firm Frogparking, which developed the world-leading technology, will supply and install the equipment at no cost to the council.

The system is expected to boost meter revenue as more motorists comply with parking regulations as the sensors monitor car parks and send wireless messages to wardens when vehicles exceed their time limits.

Frogparking marketing manager Shareena Sandbrook said the trial would allow the firm to showcase its technology to distributors and hi-tech businesses throughout the world.

The company recently added 14 engineers and computer science graduates to its development team, including 11 Massey University graduates.

In the first month, offending motorists will get warnings that the system is operating.

Ms Sandbrook said the company would focus on making sure the system worked effectively before turning its attention to international markets.

Palmerston North City Council chief executive Paddy Clifford said he was looking forward to the city being the first in the world to use the solar-powered technology.

City councillors have lauded the home-grown technology as innovative and groundbreaking, but not everyone is happy.

Microbiologist Professor Tim Brown said the initiative was "anti-ratepayer" and the council's "Big Brother" approach would generate negative publicity for Palmerston North.

"They just seem to be against the ratepayers," Professor Brown said.

"Their parking meters do not catch cheats – they catch decent people going about their business who may have misjudged time," he said.

"People don't go out to cheat the parking meters. People go out to shop."

City council environmental protection services head Wayne Jameson said that the council had not yet determined how it would approach enforcement.

- © Fairfax NZ News