Editorial: Ticket fighter in the right

OPINION: Everybody loves it when the little guy stands up against injustice delivered by someone in authority.

And nothing represents petty authority wielded with vigour more than an over-zealous parking warden.

Hence the Waikato Times' interest in the recent case of Peter Mayall, who pulled out all the stops to defend his good wife's name after the Hamilton City Council ticketed her during a visit to Waikato Hospital.

After parking in a two-hour spot in Horne St, Mrs Mayall returned only 12 minutes later to find a $15 infringement notice on her car.

A heavily pregnant Mrs Mayall had first visited the hospital around 9.30 that morning before leaving and returning after lunch.

But the over-zealous parking warden on the hospital beat, no doubt frustrated by the musical chairs scenario of long-term parkers moving vehicles from one spot to another to beat tickets, doled one out anyway.

Enter Peter Mayall who set out to prove, through security camera footage and affidavits from witnesses, that Mrs Mayall was elsewhere at the time.

He was eventually proved right, but not before the council opened its parking policy to justified criticism on two fronts.

Firstly, how many people would have been aware that there was a rule about returning to a different spot in the same parking `area' within 20 minutes?

The second was its issuing of a ticket based only on an assumption of wrongdoing.

This left the accused to prove their innocence and it was only through Mr Mayall's dogged, and costly, efforts that he did so. It's worth wondering how many others would have had the time and resources to do the same.

For an organisation with the power to take punitive measures, such as issue infringement notices, to use them without concrete evidence is at best cavalier and at worst an abuse of power.

Although it would be ruinously wasteful of ratepayers' coin and court time to do so in every case, unless Hamilton City Council is prepared to defend its tickets before a judge it should not be issuing them.

Despite this bad rap, parking tickets serve a vital purpose in congested areas, by encouraging a turnover of parks and those in the wrong should expect to pay.

Mr Mayall is not the first parking crusader to gain similar attention, with Te Awamutu lawyer James Parlane the most notable one. Mr Parlane seems to aim to get off his by drawing out the process and forcing council to spend thousands of dollars. Mr Mayall clearly had right on his side and has highlighted an issue on which council will hopefully act.

His calls for a governmental review of the council's enforcement operations are overkill but for now he, and other city motorists, should savour this victory.

- © Fairfax NZ News