• Footscray, Yarraville, Braybrook Star

By Charlene Gatt and Alesha Capone

9th March 2010 11:05:40 AM

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MARIBYRNONG City Council’s paid parking machines are driving residents to find inventive ways of parking free in Footscray’s CBD.

Traders have told Star that people have started illegally leaving vehicles in alleyways and on private property to avoid paying for a parking spot.

Business owners fear the council’s parking enforcement cameras have also been causing them to lose customers.

Nearly 700 Footscray parking spaces fall under the council’s parking ticket machines, which charge a maximum $1 per hour between 8am and 6pm.

Ronny Bellini from the Bendigo Bank branch in Barkly St and Alan Kong from the Footscray Market said people were parking in the laneways near their businesses.

“There are cars littered around the area all day and every day,” Mr Bellini said.

“Sometimes, people park there for hours. Sometimes, we’ve had staff trapped in the bank at closing time because they can’t get out for 45 minutes to an hour,” he said.

David Cassar from the Bakers Delight in Albert St said illegal parking was not an issue for his business, but he believed the council’s parking enforcement cameras were causing a downturn in customers.

Mr Cassar said his bakery had been losing about $500 to $1000 a week since last September.

The council has 26 on-street paid parking machines on Hopkins St, Barkly St, Leeds St and Paisley St and four off-street machines at car parks.

When Star visited the off-street car parks that had parking machines last week, it found:

- 65 available car parking spaces at the off-street car park on the corner of Paisley and French streets at 4pm on Tuesday, from a total 141 spaces;

- 60 available spaces from a total 96 at the Paisley and Pickett streets car park at 4pm Tuesday;

- 32 available spaces from a total 70 at the Irving St car park at 10am Wednesday; and

- 20 available spaces from a total 58 at the Byron St car park at 10am Wednesday.

Mr Bellini said the council had traffic officers, but they only patrolled Barkly St.

Maribyrnong mayor Sel Sanli said he was not aware of people leaving parks with meters empty and parking in alleyways.

Mayor Sanli said he was also “pretty confident” council officers would check problem alleyways if they were notified that people parked there illegally, including after business hours and on weekends.

“If the community around there wants a parking camera, we’ll look into that,” he said.

Footscray policeman Leading Senior Sergeant Craig Spicer warned residents not to leave cars in alleyways, as they risked vehicles getting robbed.

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