• Footscray, Yarraville, Braybrook Star

By Charlene Gatt

9th March 2010 11:05:39 AM

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IRATE drivers have contested one in 10 fines issued from Footscray’s parking cameras.

Maribyrnong City Council has received 3616 appeals against the 34,007 fines handed out since the parking cameras were installed along Barkly, Hopkins, Leeds and Nicholson streets 11 months ago.

From that, 2933 appeals were found to be valid parking infringements and were upheld.

“The appeals process is an important part of giving motorists a fair go. Anyone receiving an infringement notice can request a photograph of the incident, clearly showing why parking officers issued the notice,” Mayor Sel Sanli said.

“These cameras are operating to create a safer street environment for motorists and pedestrians.

“These figures show that motorists who receive infringements have parked illegally and dangerously.”

The council receives appeals for 15 per cent of all fines issued based on local laws.

Figures also show a dramatic drop in the number of parking camera fines in recent months, with 7177 fines issued for the month of October, compared with 3322 over January.

The cameras were installed in April last year to catch out motorists double parking and parking illegally in no stopping zones, bus stops, clearways, loading zones and taxi zones.

In a briefing in January, manager Tom Gladwin from the council’s parking and local laws team said people illegally parking in clearways and no stopping zones accounted for around 50 per cent of all fines, with double parking and parking in loading zones the next most common infringements.

Mr Gladwin said council parking officers exercised discretion when viewing the camera footage and had waived around 11,000 possible infringements, including offences that lasted less than 30 seconds.

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