Neighbours' illegal use of traffic cones and garbage bins to reserve parking spaces sparks a suburban feud
- A suburban battle is brewing over the illegal use of parking cones to save spots
- Howick residents are angry at other locals who block streets with cones and bins
- Those affected have shared some of their experiences online
Tensions between neighbours over illegally reserved parking spots are threatening to boil over.
Residents of Howick, east Auckland, were at loggerheads over the availability of limited public parking spots - and the use of traffic cones to secure them.
The controversy was re-ignited online after The Howick Local Board shared a Facebook post responding to a resident's complaint about the issue.
Love thy neighbour? Unlikely, as war erupts in the East Auckland suburb of Howick over the illegal use of parking cones to reserve spots
'Sadly we have advised about this before. You can not use cones outside your property to reserve parking,' they wrote.
'Leaving your bins out to prevent others parking is a no-no too! All you are likely to achieve is very annoyed neighbours.'
Comments on the post suggested that despite the scarcity of spots, most people agreed with the local board's stance that cones were not the solution.
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'This funny guy had a cone outside his house near my daughters school last week to stop people parking in front of his house. So I drove over it,' wrote Amy-Lee Fox.
'I threw it on his drive way, and he came to have a go at me! I cracked up laughing ... If you don't like it move, you decided to live next door to a school' she added.
Others confirmed the private use of cones and bins to block spots on the street was indeed against the law.
'Anyone can park on the road as long as they have rego & WOF. The Council own the berm & that's where you leave your wheelie bins,' wrote Jocelyn Evans.
'It's illegal to stop anyone from parking on the road so that means cones or any similar. The road is Auckland Transport controlled.'
The irony of residents who used bins to reserve parking spots, while also illegally parking across the footpath (as pictured in initial post) was not lost on some residents!
However, others disagreed. 'I do that sometimes to stop parents parking almost blocking us in our own drive-way!!' posted Nogi Head. 'Not funny when its the main road & cars piling up behind you.'
Local woman Lisette Demeer tried to offer up one of the more practical solutions to the parking problem.
'Maybe council should look at 2 hour parking only as a lot of people now park their cars near a bus stop, and leave it there for a whole day,' she wrote.
