By Kirsty Ross
MARIBYRNONG City Council has admitted it made a “huge mistake” and will “humbly apologise” to drivers it wrongly booked for parking in a loading zone that was wrongly marked.
Tom Gladwin, council’s traffic and local laws manager, said about 40 people had been booked and fined $107 each since new loading zone signs were erected during the busy pre-Christmas period at Highpoint Shopping Centre.
“I’ve looked at all the fines issued for the period and I’ve instructed for those to be immediately withdrawn,” Mr Gladwin said.
“Owners won’t be required to write to council.”
Mr Gladwin said all the fined drivers would be sent an apology letter explaining the blunder, and anyone who had already paid the fine would be immediately reimbursed.
The council introduced about a dozen loading zone signs along Aquatic Drive on 18 December, to replace the 15-minute parking bays that had stood in the last year.
But the loading zone was meant to be valid for three hours, between 6am and 9am, not 15 hours between 6am and 9pm as the sign read.
Mr Gladwin pointed the blame at council’s signwriting contractor, but admits it was council’s fault because it did not check the new signs were what had been ordered.
The bungle was only brought to council’s attention when several outraged drivers contacted the local laws department to dispute the sudden and severe change that appeared without warning.
Maidstone resident Brent Lavery is one of those drivers.
Last week, the 34-year-old pulled up in what he thought was the same 15-minute parking bay he’d used every day in the past year to access Aquatic Drive’s Video Ezy store, and other small businesses – which he believes are in desperate need support.
When he returned to his car two minutes later, Mr Lavery was shocked to discover a hefty fine on his windscreen.
“Inspectors are issuing fines without public notice … it’s not fair they changed it in one day,” he said.
