Move your truck! | Canterbury News | Local News in Canterbury

Residents of a narrow Hei Hei street want an end to large trucks parking there overnight.

They say the trucks are causing a traffic hazard and the noise of their engines firing up for drivers' early morning starts is upsetting householders living nearby.

A petition calling for a ban on trucks in Manurere St was presented to the Riccarton-Wigram Community Board last week and has been referred to the city council's transport and roading committee.

Manurere St resident Graeme Peters, who presented the petition on behalf of 11 residents, said many elderly people and young families with children lived in the street and the parked trucks were becoming a danger.

"Big rigs and truck and trailer units are using the street to park, sometimes illegally on grass berms," he said.

Mr Peters said he believed about three or four drivers lived close by and parked on the street "so they can get away early in the morning".

"The street itself is not that wide and it's also on a bus route," he said.

"If the trucks are parked, there's not a lot of room for cars and other vehicle to pass."

Trucks left on the side of the road made it difficult for children crossing the road and residents backing out of their driveways.

"If somebody doesn't do something, someone will get hurt," Mr Peters said.

Residents were also annoyed by drivers starting their trucks early in the morning.

"Some of them leave them running for 10 or 15 minutes before they take off," he said.

Community board chairman Mike Mora said the wording of the residents' petition would ban all trucks using the street apart from deliveries.

He said board members believed the issue could be better resolved under a current clause in the council's traffic and parking bylaw.

"We're not ignoring them. We understand the issue," Mr Mora said. "It is an issue but it has to be dealt with by police and council enforcement."

He said similar problems in other streets had been resolved after talking to the truck drivers and their firms "but in this case it seems it's more than just a few trucks".