Ticket parking has been introduced for the first time in Altona in a so-called “honey trap” car park, catching unsuspecting shoppers at the newly opened IGA supermarket in Pier Street.
While the first hour of car parking is free, Australian National Car Parks (ANCP) fines people $66 if they have not displayed a ticket for the free parking, available from the machine. If not paid within 14 days, the fine increases to $88, followed by subsequent debt-collection fees.
However, the company has been subjected to legal class action in several states by people who successfully refused to pay their fines.
Julian Burnside, QC, said fines incurred in the first free hour were unenforceable.
Last week, the company offered a period of grace, placing information notices under the windscreen wipers of numerous cars which had no ticket displayed. Shopper Caroline Williams was shocked when the Weekly asked if she had displayed a ticket.
“When I looked at the sign, to me it says, ‘one-hour parking free’, so I just thought, well, I’m going to be here for five minutes so I’ll just quickly run in and do my shopping.”
Nadine Kukucka was also unaware she could have been fined for not displaying a ticket within the free hour.
“I saw the sign out there that there’s parking in here. I’ve got five kids; I’m not looking at little signs,” she said.
The Weekly saw one man needlessly trying to pay for his first free hour by inserting a credit card in the ticket machine. Parking costs $3 for one to two hours and $4 for a maximum of three hours.
Although unaware that a ticket had to be displayed for the first hour, trader Peter Weaver said parking in the Pier Street shopping precinct was ‘‘painful’’.
“If you go to Coles to duck in and do a shop, you can’t because people park there and go to the beach or go to one of the restaurants to have lunch.’’
IGA manager Adrian Lanau said he made no profit from the fines.
“We have a store over in Fairfield and we have real issues with parking over there, so our concern was being so close to the train station and, also, being the only undercover car park in this vicinity of Altona, people were going to park all day.
“In the contract that we signed, we certainly have the power to veto any infraction that was put out on to the cars. Obviously, we don’t want to hamper our customers.”
He said a car park with boom gates would have been very expensive.
Altona Village Traders Association president Kim Walsh said people had expressed mixed views.
He did not believe it would set a precedent for paid parking in the street.
“We, the traders’ association, would fight hammer and tongs if they started to put parking meters in Pier Street and places like that. We will fight that forever and a day.”
ANCP had not responded to questions by deadline.
