Western Springs AFC general manager Steven Dillon said parking had been a persistent issue.
“You can certainly see that there are people parking in areas that they shouldn’t,” he said.
“There are clear signs, which AT has put up quite recently. It’s very hard, of course, for us to monitor that as a community sports club. But there are certainly people who are parking on areas that they shouldn’t be, and you can see the damage is obvious that is being caused.”
Auckland Transport said the signs on Meola Rd went up in mid-May. But some of the infringements issued that month had to be waived.
It said it could not enforce the fines, as most of the area belonged to the reserves and the Museum of Transport and Technology (Motat).
In a statement, AT said: “The majority of the grass area on Meola Rd falls under the reserves and Motat, so we are unable to enforce the no stopping/parking off the roadway in those areas.”
Bollards have just been installed. AT said it was part of a long-term upgrade.
The football club said it was doing its bit to try and ease parking congestion, Dillon said.
“There’s been ‘bike to football’ campaigns that we’ve run with various different organisations. We’ve also invested in additional bike racks and things like that to go in and around the club. We’ve promoted the bus routes, we promote carpooling. We’re trying to promote everything we can to reduce some of those stresses.”
On the other side of the road, Meola Reef Reserve is another problem area. It is popular with dog walkers and the 10 parking spaces were often full.
In one spot by the reserve, motorists had driven down the cycle lane to park on the verge. The grass had churned to muddy puddles.
Bike Auckland deputy chair Duncan Laidlaw was concerned by the behaviour.
“Obviously, it’s a massive safety risk,” he said. “We’ve got people cycling, kids cycling to sports or cycling to school and you’ve got someone driving a motor vehicle down the cycleway, there’s not a lot of space then for them to get out of the way. It also damages the cycleways and often there’s infrastructure underneath.”
Motat’s aviation workshop borders Meola Rd.
Motat said it had also seen illegal parking, especially at the weekend. It was working with AT subcontractors on more signage.
But there could be another solution to Meola Rd’s parking problem.
Motat said it had space allocated to build a 250-space carpark alongside its existing car park on nearby Motions Rd
However, Motat does not have the funds to pay for the carpark. The museum wants to talk to potential funders and is in discussions with Auckland Council about how it can move forward on the plan.
– RNZ