Drivers become the bunnies

Council hauls in $200k-plus over Easter through fines

Council has granted itself a tasty Easter treat, raking in more than $200,000 by dishing out 2000 parking fines – about 500 per day – for the public holiday long weekend.

Between Good Friday and Easter Monday, officers issued 1997 tickets for offences including overstaying the meter, parking on nature strips and parking on yellow lines.

The minimum fine for a parking offence on the Gold Coast is $103, meaning council’s haul is at least $205,000. Because some infringements attract bigger penalties, the actual figure would be higher.

It comes as Bulletin analysis shows the City of Gold Coast issues some of Queensland’s most expensive fines.

For parking on a grass verge, which annually catches thousands of motorists in crowded suburban streets, council stings people $193.

The equivalent offence costs $103 in Logan, $116 in Brisbane and $154 in Redlands.

A total of 129 of those fines were dished out on Easter’s long weekend, netting council almost $25,000 from unsuspecting motorists.

Theodore MP Mark Boothman said the hefty fines for parking with two wheels on the grass was regularly raised with him by residents.

It was a particular problem in narrow suburban streets, where residents were caught between not wanting to be fined and not wanting to potentially block the path of emergency services, he said.

Unlike the Gold Coast, Logan council allows for cars to park on nature strips where roads are less than six metres wide so long as pathways are not blocked.

“We are potentially putting people’s lives at risk,” Mr Boothman said.

“It has happened before where ambulances have had trouble getting to locations because the roads are clogged with vehicles.

“Hence Logan City Council has actually done the smart thing by implementing some leeway, for public safety reasons, to allow residents to park on the verges.”

Mr Boothman urged council to reconsider its strategy of

dishing out the fines in suburban areas in light of the brutal cost of living issues affecting many residents.

“As cost of living has been increasing, it is forcing more and more people to live in a single dwelling, so more cars are attached to that dwelling. You can’t physically park them all on driveways and in garages. There’s just too many cars,” he said.

“… we need to be smarter about this and give flexibility.

“Council needs to do their part to help families during these very tough times. They need to give leeway.”

Council’s $200,000 Easter holidays fines blitz comes after the Bulletin revealed how thousands of homeowners, many already grappling with higher mortgage costs, face the possibility of a big rates bill increases after a huge jump in land valuations.

Valuer-General Laura Ditrich said high levels of interstate and overseas immigration and “infrastructure development” had contributed to the increases, which were more than 40 per cent for homeowners in many northern and western suburbs.

In relation to the parking fines, a council spokesperson said: “The city monitors parking and undertakes enforcement activities across the entire Gold Coast area to promote pedestrian safety, reduce traffic congestion, and ensure equitable access to parking for locals and visitors alike.

“The majority of infringements were issued for nonpayment of a meter, exceeding timed parking, and stopping in areas designated no stopping or marked with a yellow edge line. City officers issued 129 infringement notices to vehicles stopped on a footpath/nature strip in a built-up area.”

“Council needs to do their part to help families during these very tough times. They need to give leeway. Mark Boothman Theodore MP