RICCARTON STREET CONVENES TRIBUNAL OVER UTE BLOCKING THREE DRIVEWAYS — VERDICT PENDING, UTE ALSO PENDING

A tradie's ute has been parked across three driveways on a side street off Riccarton Road since 7.40am Wednesday. Residents have responded with a folding table, a pot of tea and a footpath tribunal with no legal standing whatsoever.

The ute has boxed in a Corolla, a mobility scooter and a trailer of green waste bound for the transfer station. The trailer's owner, Lorraine Petherick, 71, was appointed chair on the grounds that she "had the chairs".

"We've given him till ten," Petherick said, at quarter past. "Then we'll go to eleven. Nobody wants to be unreasonable. Gavin wants to let his tyres down, but Gavin also wanted to let the cyclists' tyres down when the lane went in last month, so we've noted that."

In 1974 you'd have knocked on doors until you found the bloke. He'd have come out with half a sandwich and shifted it, and that would have been that. The last proper tribunal this reporter sat on was a bait-bucket dispute on the old pier, settled by the tide. Door-knocking was attempted on Wednesday. Four doors answered. Three of them were already at the tribunal. Somebody had meanwhile borrowed two road cones from a nearby site "for the perimeter". The site, which has had cones out since 2019, has not noticed.

Christchurch City Council parking enforcement said the vehicle was "on the list", which residents understand to be the same list the footpath is on. A spokesperson confirmed that blocking a driveway is an offence, but added that "a tribunal is not a thing, and we'd ask the tribunal to stop ringing the number".

The ute's owner emerged at 11.20am from number 14, whose driveway he was also blocking, where he had been fixing a back fence. He was hired by Petherick. She has recused herself. The tribunal is now considering her.