Cairns parking fines: Worst streets for council infringement notices revealed

Parking inspectors have issued a staggering 44,340 parking fines across Cairns over the past year – and now the five worst streets for tickets have been revealed.

PARKING inspectors have issued a staggering 44,340 parking fines across Cairns over the past year – and now the five worst streets for tickets have been revealed.

Cairns Regional Council put a freeze on parking tickets for three months last year as Covid-19 brought the city came to a standstill.

The amnesty was short-lived with wide-brimmed inspectors back out in force and slapping little white strips of paper onto windshields by July 20.

New data shows they have remained hard at work over the ensuing months with more than $2.8m worth of revenue raised during the 2020-21 financial year.

There is big money in parking fines with Cairns Regional Council reeling in $2.8m last financial year.

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It was a considerable upswing on the previous 12 months when lockdowns and the parking fee amnesty slashed the bottom dollar down to a measly $1.6m.

“Due to Covid-19, council suspended enforcement of parking infringements in the CBD from April 21, 2020 until July 20, 2020,” a council spokesman said.

“This contributes to the variance between years.”

Abbie Weir buys a parking ticket on Abbott St – one of the biggest hot spots for fines in Cairns. Picture: Brendan Radke

Lake St was by far the biggest cash cow for the local government with 7608 infringement notices issued for a value of $483,944.

It was followed by Grafton St with 6322 tickets worth $391,833, Abbott St (5355 fines at $342,260), Sheridan St (4825 fines worth $307,165) and McLeod St (3576 at $223,792).

Those five top inner-city golden geese combined to lay a $1.7m egg – about 60 per cent of the overall annual haul.

Council documents reveal overall parking revenue – including on-street parking and council carpark fees – topped $3.1m last financial year.

New centre road parking spaces on Lake St. PICTURE: STEWART MCLEAN

The planning and environment department finished the year $3.5m favourable to budget, due largely to the considerable parking fee and fine spoils.

Parking inspectors have long been a common sight throughout the CBD, but the introduction of automation has also helped the council ramp up its enforcement campaign.

The council is operating a senFORCE “automated mobile parking and compliance enforcement” unit, able to be fitted to a car’s roof rack with cameras, GPS antenna, light bar, router and vision-processing unit.

Lake St business owner Sharon Price pays for parking in the CBD. PICTURE: ANNA ROGERS

It uses “VehicleDNA” recognition software to capture unique vehicle features and compare them to centimetre-accurate GPS geo-positioning to determine whether a car has overstayed its welcome in any of the city’s free centre parking spots.

An earlier licence plate recognition system was first introduced in 2015.

It only issued 56 fines during its first two months in operation but by mid-2017, it was reeling in an average of more than $22,000 a month on average.

The bang-for-buck has also been on the rise with tickets for staying too long or failing to pay-and-display increasing from $48 in 2017 to $63 this year.

Want to protest a parking fine? Click here for Cairns Regional Council’s application form to waive infringement notices.

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Originally published as Cairns parking fines: Worst streets for council infringement notices revealed