I'm quite interested to see if anyone's experienced a situation like the one we experienced last year. Our office is in the middle of an industrial area and therefore contains a large amount of loading zones. Each time we load a vehicle from our office, we do so in a loading zone (marked aptly with a five minute time restriction).

Last year we received a $30 infringement for parking in said loading zone. The car was not parked at all, and was being loaded with equipment during the period the car was parked in the zone. We have video footage of a parking warden waiting for 5 minutes and 3 seconds before ticketing the car (or by the actual ticket issue time, 4 minutes and 43 seconds).

We disputed this fine by sending a letter to Auckland Transport explaining this and they responded by sending back an image of the boot of the car being closed as a staff member went back inside for more equipment. We sent back a letter offering to provide the video footage of the loading occurring and providing the reasoning that the boot was closed between each load due to the equipment value, after which we got no response. The next letter was from Baycorp, and in calls to them, they advised that they understood this and would send the fine back to Auckland Transport. We requested their permission to record these calls to which they accepted.

Nothing happened for a few months and we got a notice of a court fine, to which we disputed and were advised that our video evidence was not appropriate evidence, nor were our phone calls with Baycorp. Despite having clear proof that we were using the zone for intended purposes, they would not look at the evidence, and instead ruled that the fine was valid.

Is there anyone further that can look at this obvious evidence, or despite the clear innocence, do we have to plead guilty and pay the fine?