John MacDonald: The Christchurch City Council should be hanging their heads in shame

The Christchurch City Council better be hanging its head in shame today. Because after all the weasel words about being committed to finding a solution to the problem of car parking at Christchurch Hospital, we can say with certainty that that’s all they are - weasel words. Because, after however long it’s been, we still don’t have the level of parking available that you would expect in New Zealand’s second-largest city. But not only that, we’re also finding out today that the area around the hospital is the city’s hotspot for council parking tickets. Figures released to Newstalk ZB tell us that, of all areas in the city, the biggest number of fines are issued in the Hagley Oval carpark - followed by the Horticultural carpark and the Botanic Gardens carpark. Now I know that not everyone who has got a parking ticket in these areas will have been at the hospital. But I think we can safely assume that most of them were. The council says it consider requests to waiver infringement notices on a case-by-case basis. But councillor Aaron Keown says it’s unacceptable that people are getting pinged at all when they go to the hospital. And his view is that the hospital should be the most accessible facility in the community. Well it’s not. And, as the numbers out today show, if you are lucky enough to get a park, the parking wardens will get you if you dare stay a bit longer with that relative or if your appointment goes a bit longer than you thought it would. And let’s not forget that it’s not just visitors getting pinged by the council. How galling must it be to do a shift at the hospital and come out and find a ticket on the windscreen? I know that, when you go to work, you don’t necessarily get free parking. But, as we’ve seen over the years as this shambolic situation has been allowed to fester - it’s a genuine safety issue for nurses and other health workers. And I know some people think it’s a daft place for a busy hospital - right in the centre of town - but it is what it is, it is where it is, and so we have to do better to make it more accessible. Way better. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.