Letter Of The Month: What A Fine Mess Councils Are In

By Dan Hutton on November 22, 2011 in

Just what the hell do local councils think they are proving by letting loose a bunch of power-crazy employees dressed in the guise of ‘parking rangers’?

Their heavy-handed tactics in fining people relentlessly has not only earned them the disrespect they deserve, but also has tarnished the name of the various councils who let theses idiots run loose.

I have no objection to people getting parking fines when they deserve them, but people who get hit with fines unnecessarily deserve better and should have some sort of avenue with which to complain before the fine is paid – not after.

In my case, I parked in my mother’s driveway in Henrietta Street, Double Bay while I ran inside to get the key to the garage so I could park off the street.

When I returned a couple of minutes later to move my car I was absolutely stunned to find an $88 fine on my windscreen.

As my mother is 91 years old and my sister and I are both registered as her carer, we both (legally) share a disabled sticker to transport mum around when needed.

Unlike so many who rort the system and continually get away with it, I do not have the disabled sticker permanently affixed to my vehicle.

I strongly object to this parking fine.

Could Woollahra Council suggest any other method that I might have been able to use other than leave my car outside my mother’s garage while I obtained a key to the garage to park my car?

As Council is well aware there are parking rangers patrolling the area at least twice a day – even on Sundays.

Ratepayers are paying double with the parking police’s wages and then in residents’ fines.

Double Bay is not doing well economically. The Chamber of Commerce organise fairs and events and then Council brings in the parking police.

Despite going to Double Bay Public School, growing up in the area and working in Double Bay for the past 23 years, I am now treated with total disdain and getting fed up with the underhanded measures these storm-trooping rangers stoop to to boost the coffers of a municipal council that doesn’t care less.