A Williamstown pensioner booked by a drive-by parking inspector has accused Hobsons Bay council of ruthless revenue raising.
Jill Price was fined $148 after stopping in a half-day loading zone in Ferguson Street.
She said she did not realise the space was a 7am-1pm loading bay when she pulled in at 12.54pm to let her disabled pensioner friend out.
“There is no yellow marking on the road to say it’s a loading zone,” Ms Price said. “Where I’ve driven around Williamstown, every loading zone has yellow paint … but they are loading zones all day.”
Ms Price said she also couldn’t see a loading zone sign.
“I have empathy with the hundreds of other locals and visitors who are getting booked in this half-day clearway, half-day regular one-hour parking,” she said.
“As you do in a small community, you talk about it. Everybody says the same thing – that apparently in this particular parking spot, people have even driven into it and driven straight out of it when they realised [its loading zone status] and still got fined without even hardly stopping their car.”
Ms Price’s appeal to the council was rejected, with the council saying drivers should look at the signs, not road markings.
Hobsons Bay corporate services director David Anderson said the council had one drive-by parking inspector.
“Council has one vehicle in operation, which is fitted with a camera for the purpose of taking photos of cars parked illegally,” he said.
“There has been no recognisable increase or decrease in parking revenue during this period.”
