Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Vol. 37, No. 18. July 24, 1974
Bikes ripped off
Bikes ripped off
By some amazing coincidence, the day before bursaries were due to be paid out last week, the university began a scourge of towing away motor-bikes. On Tuesday July 16, they started the cycle by getting Jamiesons to tow away three motor-cycles which had been parked in various odd spaces around the Hunter Building. The charge which Jamiesons levies was $7 to the owner of each motor-bike—$21 in all.
Wednesday, the day that bursaries were paid, the University administration decided that it was a good day to offer Jamiesons a few prize plums and a handy bit of income. Jamiesons arrived in the courtyard between the Rankine Brown and Easterfield Buildings at about two o'clock in the afternoon, for a couple of university bureaucrats to invite them to remove a total of 14 motor-bikes. This was such a magnificent haul for them that they needed to take two loads, and they decided that they had a sufficient haul for them to be able to lower the charge to $4.
For future reference, there is no need for any students who gets their car or motor-bike towed away on the instructions of the university to pay the towaway operator any money. The university is not like an ordinary roadway and towaway firms have no legal right to exact payment from vehicle owners.
The real problem, however, is shortage of space for parking bikes around the university. In the past, there was a section of Kelburn Parade, expressly set aside for parking bikes, but that space is not available this year. Often during an ordinary weekday, the space specifically designated for parking bikes between Easierfield and Rankine Brown is full. There are more and more bikes to be parked, and less and less space in which to park them. And towing bikes away is no solution to the problem.