5 May 2025: abatement notice, parking app issues

Media: Local Democracy Reporter

Topic: Abatement notice

Enquiry

*NOTE: this is a follow up to previous recent enquiries by the reporter relating to an abatement notice issued regarding unconsented activity being undertaken by Tikanga Aroro Charitable Trust

may I please ask if there is any update . . . i.e. is an investigation still underway? Any abatement notices issued etc?

Can I also request an update on the consent application for the facility to be at waikite? Ie what stage etc

The reporter also asked where we were at with the consent application

Response

The reporter was informed that there were no new updates and the investigation was still underway. Regarding the consent application, we told the reporter that we are still working with the applicant on the consent.

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Media: Local Democracy Reporter

Topic: Parking app issues

Enquiry

I saw the council post on Saturday about the delayed processing of parking fines from the last month or so. I have a few questions and a little for response please.

• How many people were impacted by this?
• What kind of amounts were people charged?
• What timeframe did it cover?
• How can people have confidence what they were charged is for what they parked if there are no dates to compare to the app history?
• What is the council doing about this?
• What is i-Park doing about this?
• What was the cause?
• How likely this is going to happen again?
• Some people were charged hundreds of dollars at one time - does the council or i-park recognise the impact this may have on people financially?
• Were there any other fees or charges as part of this delay?

One person charged took to social media to share their experience, charged $264 dollars worth of 16 transactions.
Both they and another commenter said they were unable to compare the charge, which was dated to one day, to dates they parked in the app, and believed the app had said payments had gone through at the time they parked.

One person said they had not parked long enough to be charged $4 to $6.

Another said there was “no foul here” having confirmed they were charged late for what they had parked.

Response

From Group Manager – Destination Development Jean-Paul Gaston:

i-Park is in the early stages of an investigation to confirm the exact cause of Friday's event. It would be premature to speculate any further at this time.

Due to the technical nature of the issue, this may take some time to resolve. i-Park is continuing to keep Council informed of their investigation and any developments.

We would like to reassure customers that the charges applied relate to genuine previous parking stays.

An update will be provided once the investigation is completed. In the interim, we continue to monitor the app to ensure transactions are successful.

We encourage anyone who has had an issue with the Prestopark app to contact i-Park on 07 958 9805 or email support@i-park.co.nz.

We apologise for any short-term inconvenience that this may have caused.

Note the reporter: I note in your email you refer to a parking 'fines', it is actually a parking fee (fines relate to an infringement).