Residents anger after she was fined because her car’s towbar extended inches onto a public path – but some residents think she’s wrong
Residents anger after she was fined because her car’s towbar extended inches onto a public path – but some residents think she’s wrong.
A woman is furious after being handed a ‘steep’ parking fine while parked in her own driveway, vowing to contest and overturn the charge.
The resident of Maroubra, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, was fined $302 after the tow bar of her Ford Ranger was discovered extending from her driveway onto a public footpath.
She said Randwick City Council had agreed to allow the ute to be parked in the spot outside her home after she made “alterations” to her home.
On a local social media page on Wednesday, the woman asked whether other residents had tried to overturn “unnecessary fines” and whether they had been successful.
While a photo of the tow bar taken by the woman shows the tow bar hanging above the public footpath, she says she has ‘never had any problems’ with it in the past.
A female resident of Maroubra in Sydney’s eastern suburbs is furious after she was fined $302 because her Ford Ranger’s tow bar was hanging over a public footpath (pictured)
She theorized that the fine came about because she was either reported to the city council by a local resident or fell victim to a ranger who was “having a bad day.”
“Someone in our harmonious street seems to be causing trouble,” she wrote.
The post divided locals, with some claiming the fine was ‘BS’ while others said she was blocking the footpath and was wrong.
A local resident who supported the woman noted that anyone who made the report, which cost her $302, had to live a “very sad life.”
A second supporter urged her to “fight” with the council over the fine, saying that “a warning would have been more appropriate in (this) circumstance.”
But another resident disagreed, arguing there was ‘no point in fighting the fine’ as she had parked across the footpath and potentially deterred people from using it.
“Think of our accessible community and how partially blocking a sidewalk can impact people in wheelchairs or pushing strollers,” the commenter said.
The woman said Randwick City Council had previously allowed her car to be parked in the driveway in front of her home and that she had ‘never had any problems’ with it in the past (stock image)
NSW legislation includes numerous traffic regulations regarding parking on or obstructing footpaths, which can carry a fine of up to $2,200.
Council states that if an ‘authorized officer discovers a breach of a particular traffic regulation or parking restriction, he will issue a fine’.
While council rangers issue parking fines under NSW laws, disputing a fine must be done at the State Debt Recovery Office.
A dispute can also be taken to court, but this can lead to harsher penalties if the bid is unsuccessful.
Randwick City Council told Daily Mail Australia it needed more information about the anonymous woman’s case to make a full statement.