PARKING THREATS
Nobby Beach locals at boiling point over illegal, thoughtless parking
RESIDENTS fed up with illegally parked cars blocking driveways are threatening to take matters into their own hands, including towing vehicles and dumping them in the middle of the road. Tempers are heating up as the hot weather arrives and crowds head for the beach – but a blocked driveway that locked in an elderly woman for an entire weekend, stopping her from visiting a dying friend, has brought the matter to a head.
NOBBY Beach residents fed up with illegally parked cars blocking driveways are threatening to take matters into their own hands, including towing vehicles and dumping them in the middle of the road.
Tempers are flaring as the hot weather arrives and crowds head for the beach – but a blocked driveway that locked in an elderly woman for an entire weekend, stopping her from visiting a dying friend, has brought the matter to a head.
Neighbourhood Watch convener Geoff Krebs has written to police and the council, saying the problem is out of control.
But it appears residents have not helped their cause. Many have copped the blocked driveways and clogged streets without complaining – and police say that if they complain and are blocked in, then they can act.
The woman whose driveway was blocked told the Bulletin that when the driver returned and she tried to speak to him, he swore at her and made a rude gesture. She was too frightened to be named for this report.
“I had a friend in hospital and was unable to visit them and that friend then died that weekend,” she said.
“The driver parked over the yellow line and it didn’t make any difference to him.
“When I accosted him he gave me a dreadfully rude sign and swore at us.
“I couldn’t repeat the language that he used.”
The woman said she had owned her Nobby Beach home for more than 20 years.
“Parking issues are the biggest problem in Nobby Beach,” she said.
“Sometimes we plan on going out for dinner and then see we are blocked in so we just go back inside,” she said.
“But that’s OK. It’s only when it is for the full weekend I get angry.”
The matter was not reported to police.
Mr Krebs said other residents were not as placid and were planning action.
“It is not good enough that residents ... cannot rely on having their driveways cleared for emergency access on weekends,” Mr Krebs wrote. “I have input from one resident who is so frustrated their next course of action will be to have a large vehicle ... move offending cars into the middle of the street.”
Broadbeach officer-incharge Senior Sergeant Paul Hunter said if the blocking of the driveway for a weekend had been reported, police would have helped.
“If someone was parked across the driveway and she needs to get out then we will come and help her,” he said.
If that happened, police would go to the property, write an infringement notice and try to contact the owner of the car. If the owner could not be contacted, police would call a tow truck to have the car removed.
Sen Sgt Hunter said police had not received many complaints. “Now it is on our radar we will put it on our taskings to look at when officers are in the area,” he said.
If a car is not blocking a driveway but is parked illegally, it is a council matter.
A city spokesperson said residents should contact the council. “City parking officers will attend and take appropriate action. This may include issuing a fine where vehicles are found to be parked illegally,’’ they said.
Elderly resident: “I had a friend in hospital and was unable to visit them and that friend then died that weekend. The driver parked over the yellow line and it didn’t make any difference to him ... he gave me a dreadfully rude sign and swore at us.”