REASON TO WEEP

GOLD Coast City Council was right to quash a parking fine that would have painted it as the sort of authority that penalises desperate mums feeding babies.

Parents everywhere know that when push comes to shove, the heart-tugging cries of a tiny child cannot be ignored.

They will understand Nicky Convine’s predicament, in which her instinct kicked in and she had to scoot quickly into a parking space at Burleigh to breastfeed her baby. And everyone will understand her frustration when a parking officer swooped and stuck a fine on her windscreen, and then someone in the backrooms of city hall bureaucracy rejected her appeal.

In NSW however they do things differently. And we can thank Cr Alan Hunter of the Byron Shire for confirming what Gold Coasters have suspected – that Byron Bay sees us as a bunch of walking wallets. In the debate in NSW about whether to reduce parking fines, Cr Hunter wants penalties maintained, otherwise the shire will lose revenue that he admits comes from visitors – that’s us – rather than locals, who pay just $50 for annual parking permits. Nice one.