By Jessica Micallef
Donna Pemberton has lived at her Sunbury home for 30 years. She says she has always had a car parked out the front of her property.
But earlier this month she received a $99 fine from Hume council for parking a car on her nature strip.
“There are eight houses in our court … it’s only a small court with no parking,” she said.
“There are quite a few of us who have made parking bays ourselves for extra cars to be off the street because otherwise the bin trucks aren’t going to be able to get through.
“We aren’t the only ones, a couple of other neighbours have been fined.”
Ms Pemberton said in her 30 years living in Sunbury, she had never before received a fine for parking on her nature strip.
“I don’t understand why they [Hume council] are fining people without even a warning,” she said
“This has never happened before. It’s disappointing, especially during COVID when people are working from home.
“Maybe the council needs to provide more parking bays. There are so many courts in Sunbury and ours is a small court, it’s a narrow road.”
Hume council’s infrastructure and services director Peter Waite said while drivers may think they were doing the right thing, parking on the nature strip was illegal under the Victorian road rules and local government was under a legal obligation to enforce this.
“Parking on the nature strip may block people from safely walking along the nature strip or damage tree roots and underground utilities such as gas pipes and telecommunication cables,” he said.
“In December 2020, council received a customer request to investigate cars illegally parked within 10 metres of the intersection of Durack Court and Kingsley Drive and as a result, parking enforcement was undertaken on Durack Court.
“Due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on our community, the council is offering residents an extension of time to pay parking infringements .. to June 30, 2021.”
