9 August 2006

Court Action Against Illegal Airport Car Park

An illegal carpark business being used by people travelling out of Auckland Airport is being taken to the Environment Court by Manukau City Council.

The carpark is on the corner of Puhinui Road and Prices Rd, less than 5km from the airport. The business, which provides a shuttle service to and from the airport, has been the subject of regular complaints.

Under the Manukau District Plan a commercial carpark in the Mangere-Puhinui Rural zone is illegal without resource consent.

The council issued an abatement notice on 31 March asking for operations to stop until the carpark got consent. Inspections between April and June showed that instead of closing down the business the number of cars parked increased from approximately 50 to an estimated 300.

The council has now started legal proceedings at the Environment Court against Airface Limited, the owner of 440 Puhinui Rd, Breakaway Services Ltd and its director William Menzies Buddo.

Manukau City Council Hearings Committee Chair Jan Sinclair says Breakaway Services has shown a blatant disregard for the notice to stop running an illegal commercial carpark.

“Although a resource consent application has now been submitted to the council the fact is the carpark business has continued operating. Instead of scaling down, they have scaled up.

“People in the community are concerned about the substantial increase in traffic and the fact that this activity isn’t appropriate for a rural area,” Cr Sinclair says.

The council has already issued six $750 infringement notices because the carpark has remained open despite receiving an abatement notice.

If the prosecution is successful the operators could be fined $15,000 - $25,000.

ENDS

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