{"id":327024,"date":"2026-03-13T03:26:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T03:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/327024\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T03:26:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T03:26:07","slug":"round-the-bays-tamaki-drive-race-backlash-as-residents-criticise-auckland-transport-for-towing-vehicles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/327024\/","title":{"rendered":"Round the Bays: T\u0101maki Drive race backlash as residents criticise Auckland Transport for towing vehicles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Auckland Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson said AT has apologised for the communication mishap and cancelled infringement tickets for one of the affected streets. <\/p>\n

Simpson said the notification letter sent to residents used outdated information from last year. <\/p>\n

AT head of transport and parking compliance Rick Bidgood earlier said Sage Rd was \u201cclearly communicated\u201d as designated for bus parking only, according to the traffic management plan. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis was clearly communicated to residents with the installation of event advisory signage on Sage Rd one week in advance of the event, while event regulatory signage was installed on Sage Rd 24-48 hours in advance,\u201d Bidgood said. <\/p>\n

Since being contacted by the Herald, Bidgood said AT was made aware of the mistake in the notification letter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe notification letter used incorrect information from the traffic management plan (TMP) in 2025, and not the TMP for 2026, which potentially confused the residents of Sage Rd, with different messages in the letter and the signage implemented for bus parking only,\u201d Bidgood said. <\/p>\n

He claims the signage on Sage Rd was still correct. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe official Round the Bays website provided information to residents regarding road closures and parking restrictions around the event. Photo \/ Round the Bays<\/p>\n

A Round the Bays spokesperson said two streets were added to the traffic management plan this year because of a revised route for buses after the event.<\/p>\n

T\u0101maki Drive resident Rob Correa said he was one of many who were wrongly issued a $70 fine and a $120 tow fee after parking on Sage Rd. <\/p>\n

\u201c$190 is a price too high to pay for public incompetency,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Correa told the Herald he was frustrated because he did not see any signs and the online maps showed the road was safe to park on. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou should not penalise people doing the right thing in complying with the situation. You create a dangerous precedent for next year because now we don\u2019t know what\u2019s safe to do,\u201d Correa said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been here for 25 years …. it\u2019s always very much traditional in the sense that we know exactly what\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RoundRound the Bays runners and walkers making their way along T\u0101maki Drive, Auckland, last Sunday. Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n

He said it was common to see cars being towed on the morning of the event because people forgot about restrictions, but this year was different. <\/p>\n

\u201cI love Round the Bays, I\u2019m all for AT and the council, but for me and my wife to walk up the hill and then be charged $190 for doing the right thing, it\u2019s not okay. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt appears the wardens were issued a blanket directive to ticket and tow every vehicle in sight, regardless of the actual location or the non-highlighted zones their own maps had signalled as safe,\u201d Correa said.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe traffic management plan for last weekend’s Round The Bays. Photo \/ Supplied by AT<\/p>\n

Residents left \u2018scrambling\u2019<\/p>\n

Correa said residents were caught out by what felt like a sudden change in conditions. <\/p>\n

He said his wife was \u201chorrified\u201d to see elderly people trying to figure out where their vehicle had gone and a heavily pregnant woman \u201cscrambling\u201d to recover her car. <\/p>\n

Correa said one woman was running late for a wedding and was unaware she\u2019d been in a tow zone until it was too late. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever the technicalities, this is what poor communication looks like in real life: confusion, stress and avoidable hardship,\u201d Correa said. <\/p>\n

\"T\u0101makiT\u0101maki Drive resident Rob Correa is unhappy with Auckland Transport after his vehicle was towed from a street not included in a parking restrictions list. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

Correa said if AT and council were going to use the neighbourhood as a \u201cpressure valve\u201d for T\u0101maki Drive demand, then residents deserved clear, consistent, highly visible notice and transparent justification for enforcement. <\/p>\n

Bidgood said the event was held annually and AT used the same regulatory standards and processes to advise residents where and when they cannot park well in advance. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be using these same standards and process ahead of next year\u2019s event,\u201d Bidgood said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Auckland Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson said AT has apologised for the communication mishap and cancelled infringement tickets for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327025,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,806,51,3952,8172,7793,57408,100810,4480,8231,8987,2082,8454,19136,101,111,43,139,69,176056,30205,7798,3512,530,18833,8808,104646,223,165,2846,6047,50362,74932,112,6861,15315,102,1354],"class_list":["post-327024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-as","tag-auckland","tag-aucklands","tag-backlash","tag-bays","tag-blindsided","tag-criticise","tag-drive","tag-event","tag-fines","tag-for","tag-including","tag-largest","tag-left","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-outdated","tag-parking","tag-race","tag-racing","tag-residents","tag-round","tag-running","tag-slapped","tag-the","tag-their","tag-them","tag-tmaki","tag-towed","tag-towing","tag-transport","tag-vehicles","tag-wedding","tag-with","tag-woman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}