Dogs and cars and the law

Recurring in my community conversations are issues over parking and dogs.  Now I’m not anti-dog (I like dog and, no, some of my best friends are not dogs) but like the overwhelming majority of local dog owners, I don’t want to see mess on the streets or in parks.  Let dogs run free down at Astrolabe Park, take them for walks along our streets and down in Sir Joseph Banks Park but clean up after them.

Next issue that comes up when talking to locals is the lack of consideration when it comes to parking cars.  If a mum or dad, or grandparents, are talking very young children for walks in prams or strollers then they don’t need cars parked on footpaths of over nature strips blocking the way.  Think before you park is the message I want to get out.

If you ignore community commonsense – or the local regulations – then it could be costly.  In the past few months our rangers have impounded dogs, issued warnings and penalty notices and booked a lot of cars that were inappropriately parked – including my particular bugbear, parking in disabled parking spaces.  The rangers will continue to be out and about and if someone does the wrong thing then they’ll pay the price.  For that I don’t apologise.