Townsville parkers a motley crew
ANYONE who has ever parked at the local shops knows this is a problem — a shopper parks their car so close to your vehicle you can’t get out.
That was the problem for Conway Ganderton recently at Stockland Townsville in the underground car park off Alfred St in the 90- minute bay.
He had been grocery shopping and returned to find a car parked perilously close to his. He drives a Land Rover Discovery.
“When I opened the door the gap was less than 50cm,” he said. “There was no way I was going to be able to climb from the other side.”
After waiting for 20 minutes he realised the person in the other vehicle may not return for hours.
“Because it’s a private car park you can’t do a thing about it,” he said.
“It’s a $ 120,000 car and I wasn’t going to open my door into another vehicle.
He said other people should take more care when parking.
“The number of people who park badly in Townsville, it’s huge,” he said.
“I have a nice car, a Jaguar, and I refuse to take it to a shopping centre in Townsville.
“When I take it to a place like Domain Central, I park it as far away from other vehicles as possible.”
He did get out of his car parking dilemma thanks to a passer- by. A young girl helped him by clambering over the passenger seat.
“She backed it up far enough so I could get out,” he said.
Bad parking often draws the ire of people in Townsville, and they are regularly outed on social media, but is it illegal?
According to the Department of Transport and Main Roads, parking laws at private car parks are left for operators to decide.
A spokesman said TMR did not regulate private property parking. “This is a civil matter between the vehicle owner and car park operator.”
ANDREW BACKHOUSE