Wellington City Council says it is investigating options to solve the parking issues in suburban Miramar.

Tensions are rising around Wellington Airport, where travellers are treating suburban streets like a free car park.

Frustrated residents have hit back by placing illegal fences and concrete blocks outside their homes.

They complain that Wellington City Council has done nothing to solve the problem of people leaving their cars in Miramar and walking to the airport, rather than paying for parking.

DAVID WHITE/ FAIRFAX NZ Kauri St resident John Boult places traffic cones outside his home to deter Wellington Airport users from parking there.

These cars can be seen lining Kauri St, Kedah St, Hobart St and Miro St on a daily basis, locals say. Some are left there for weeks and even months.

READ MORE:

* $70m airport parking building to handle growth and repel 'freeloaders'

* Council criticised over cyclist Alan Cecil Robieson's berm death

* Abandoned car at Wellington Airport linked to Colombian jewellery thefts

* Wellington airport consumers $33m better off says Commerce Commission

For years, some residents have been erecting illegal fences on grass berms outside their homes to stop travellers parking on them. Others have put out road cones, concrete blocks and their own "no parking" signs.

CAMERON BURNELL/ FAIRFAX NZ. A makeshift wire fence on Kedah St, Miramar, keeps airport users at bay. Across the road there is no such protection.

But despite this, Miramar residents say the problem is getting worse. Some also fear that council plans to build a $6 million cycleway through the area could exacerbate the issue, because some car parks will need to go.

Miramar Maupuia Progressive Association chairwoman Robin Boldarin​ said that, occasionally, the roads of southeastern MIramar were so heavily lined with cars that residents' driveways were blocked.

"They're really just freeloaders who don't want to pay the cost of parking at the airport."

DAVID WHITE/ FAIRFAX NZ Robin Boldarin, chairwoman of the Miramar Maupuia Progressive Association, next to one of the man-made berm barriers that have become a common sight on the streets of her suburb.

She wanted the council to find a solution, but did not want to see residents' parking zones introduced, which would mean they had to pay $115 a year for a permit.

Kauri St resident Barbara Blewman​ said the combination of parked cars and man-made barriers was an eyesore.

She was one of several residents who said they had seen tensions erupt into verbal confrontations between locals and airport users.

CAMERON BURNELL/ FAIRFAX NZ Plenty of residents have resorted to putting wooden stakes and concrete blocks in the ground to mark their territory.

In 2013, cyclist Alan Cecil Robieson, 65, died after hitting a low wire fence erected by a resident on a grass berm.

Coroner Carla na Nagara​ investigated the death and, in 2015, criticised the city council's "indifference" to solving the parking pressures in Miramar.

Kauri St resident Susan Eade said on Tuesday she was not aware of any more crashes since, but the occasional sound of screeching brakes suggested there had been a few "close shaves".

CAMERON BURNELL/FAIRFAX NZ Miramar residents say they are frustrated at years of inaction by Wellington City Council over the parking pressures in Miramar.

She was also concerned that plans for a cycleway could make matters worse, as two of the four route options involve Hobart, Kedah and Miro streets, and could affect between 18 and 389 car parks.

Kauri St resident John Boult​ said the community went to the city council seeking solutions about seven years ago, but "nothing happened and it's got progressively worse".

Eastern ward councillor Simon Marsh said city council staff had been asked a week ago to investigate options for solving the parking problem and report back, which would hopefully be done within six months.

SUPPLIED Alan Cecil Robieson, 65, died in hospital a day after crashing his bike on into a low wire barrier near his Miramar home in June 2013.

He did not want a solution that ended up costing residents, but equally did not want restrictions that hindered local businesses, such as the rental car companies that occupy some of the local parking.

The city council owns 34 per cent of Wellington Airport, but Marsh did not think it was appropriate for the council to tell the airport to lower its parking fees.

Wellington Airport spokesman Greg Thomas said the issue of travellers parking in nearby streets had been around for years, and was not specific to the capital.

"This issue is also faced in Christchurch and Queenstown, where free and unrestricted residential parking is nearby."

The airport's new eight-storey parking building, currently under construction, would increase parking capacity from 1900 to 2900, and provide more convenient access for buses, taxis, and bikes, he said.

*Comments on this article have closed.