Yellow lines approved on Karaka Bays street amid resident row

Wellington City councillors have voted to install 36 metres of broken yellow lines along a narrow stretch of Fortification Rd in Karaka Bays, marking the latest development in an ongoing neighbourhood dispute. Reported by 1News. 

The council’s Regulatory Processes Committee unanimously agreed to restrict vehicle stopping on one side of the road. The decision follows complaints from two residents who accused a neighbour of pushing for the change due to a personal vendetta.

Just days before the meeting, police were called to a dispute on the street in which one person was allegedly assaulted. A police spokesperson confirmed to The Post that a 63-year-old man was arrested and charged with common assault.

Currently, apart from a small section of footpath across a garage marked with yellow lines, motorists can park on both sides of the contested stretch.

However, 27 residents signed a petition urging the council to act, arguing that parked vehicles were obstructing larger vehicles, including emergency services.

Council officers supported the proposal on safety and accessibility grounds. A site inspection found the road width ranges from 5.1 metres to 5.7 metres — too narrow to safely allow parking on both sides while enabling large vehicles to pass.

Standard operating procedure requires a road to be at least 6.9 metres wide to “sufficiently” allow two-way passage alongside parked vehicles.

Julian Bishop and Catherine Bagnall, owners of the heritage-listed Britten House, opposed the move. The modernist property, built in 1973 and designed by architect Roger Walker, would lose its on-street parking under the new restrictions.

The couple described the petition as a “one-person crusade” by a neighbour. They also argued that introducing yellow lines could encourage speeding, making it more dangerous for them to load and unload items at their property.

In contrast, resident Adrien Rollet, who supported the petition, said large vehicles such as rubbish trucks were struggling to navigate the street, creating genuine safety concerns.

"Residents are not asking for convenience and preferential treatment," he said. "They are asking for practical safety measure that reflect the physical reality of the road layout."

A submission during public consultation last July raised similar concerns. Although the matter was initially scheduled for a decision in August, councillors postponed it to allow for further public engagement before reaching their final verdict.