A recent court appeal has found that a term in a clause of Tauranga City Council's Traffic and Parking Bylaw 2012 is too broad.

The clause refers to parking a sign‑written vehicle in a public place for promotional purposes, without Council consent. The Land Transport Act uses the term ‘parking places'.

The clause in the Council bylaw uses the term ‘public place'.

The judge ruled that the term ‘public place' is too wide and goes beyond the scope of a ‘parking place', therefore making the clause invalid.

Council will now review the wording of this clause. Council would like to offer all vehicle-owners who have been infringed for this offence a refund, by contacting Council on 07 577 7000.

Local technology service provider Geeks on Wheels took on the council after receiving nine successive parking infringement notices in early 2016.

In the case brought before Judge Paul Mabey QC, the council's parking bylaw prohibiting local businesses from parking sign-written vehicles was deemed ‘unreasonable' and ‘too broad'.

'Since the judge's ruling on the appeal in December 2016, we have not issued any further infringement notices under this clause, and we will not be pursuing any outstanding infringements,” says Margaret Batchelar, Tauranga City Council's Manager of Customer Services.

Margaret says the intent of the bylaw is to protect community safety.

She says in this particular clause, a vehicle parked for promotion at a busy location is a safety hazard for motorists.

The ruling does not change the intent of the bylaw, which is to promote road safety by reducing hazards and unnecessary distractions for road users.

The Bylaw

12.4 No driver or other person in charge of any vehicle shall without the written approval of the Council park that vehicle (whether attended or unattended) on any road or public place for the primary purpose of displaying or promoting any trade, business or event. In granting approval, the Council may impose conditions.