Clamper: ‘New rules putmeout of a job’

The owner of a Mount Maunganui wheel-clamping business says Government moves to regulate the sector have forced him to shut his doors.

Jake Thomas started Clamp It out of frustration at people using the six carparks designated for the hospitality business he and his wife own.

He said it cost about $15,000 a year in lost staff time, when staff were late because they could not park close by, or when repairs were delayed because tradespeople could not access the premises easily.

Other people quickly sought his services, too, and the clamping business grew over the almost 12 months it was operating.

He charged $250 for each clamp release.

By the time he stopped, he said he was clamping roughly four cars a week: ‘‘Sometimes two, sometimes eight’’.

But the Land Transport (Wheel Clamping) Amendment Bill, which has now passed its third and final reading in Parliament and will become law, will limit the amount that can be charged in fines by wheel-clampers to $100.

Wheel clamping operators who charge more than the $100 maximum fee or who fail to remove a wheel clamp in a reasonable period of time will be committing an offence. The Government will make that an infringement offence allowing Police to issue on the spot fines.

But Thomas said he could not run a business based on a maximum $100 fine.

‘‘[A] good amount, if not all or more of the $250 I charged for the clamping fine was well used up in wages to have someone available to clamp between 8am and 5pm, not to mention the time spent on small claims cases, replacing broken and stolen clamps and administration, dealing with the barrage of nasty emails from disgruntled illegal parkers.’’

Thomas said he used to think clamping was bad but his experience with his own business had shown the effect of people using parks illegally.

He said tow trucks had been regulated to the point where it was not profitable for them to be in business in many places.

‘‘As a direct reaction from this bill the Government has taken away the rights of normal hardworking Kiwis who they are calling bottomfeeders and given those rights to those who have no respect for other people’s private property and park were they want.’’