Brisbane City Council hands out $83,000 a day in parking fines post-lockdown

Brisbane residents have been slapped with almost $83,000 of parking fines each day since paid parking resumed after the state’s coronavirus lockdown. SEE THE HARDEST HIT SUBURBS

Brisbane residents have been slapped with almost $83,000 of parking fines each day since paid parking resumed after the state’s coronavirus lockdown.

The Courier-Mail can reveal Brisbane City Council handed out $22.3 million in parking fines over the 2019/20 financial year.

$3,565,341 of those fines – equating to $82,914, $3,455 each hour or $57.60 each minute – were issued in the six weeks after parking enforcement resumed on May 18.

Prior to the hiatus council was collecting some $70,000 each day, or $48.60 each minute, in parking fines.

A Council spokeswoman said the change in figures did not show a change in parking enforcement but rather reflected the “natural ebbs and flows” of parking enforcement.

“If you compare 18 May 2020 to 30 June 2020 to the same period in 2019 there were 179 less infringement notices issued,” a council spokeswoman said.

“There has been no attempt to recover revenue post the COVID relaxed enforcement period.

“Dividing a value of fines by the time periods … specified does not give an accurate reflection of Council’s daily management of illegal and dangerous parking.”

A parking inspector writes a ticken on Elizabeth St in Brisbane’s CBD.

Brisbane motorists were slapped with 182,350 parking fines in the 2019/20 financial year, with Brisbane CBD, South Brisbane, Fortitude Valley, Spring Hill and Newstead topping the list for the most fines.

Drivers were most likely to be fined for stopping in a no stopping zone, with 18,151 fines issued for that infraction alone.

Almost 10,000 drivers were fined for parking dangerously over a yellow line, while around 9,500 were fined for parking in a taxi zone.

Another 12,103 people made no attempt to pay for parking despite leaving their vehicle in a metered space.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said “selfish parkers” posed a hurdle to the city’s coronavirus recovery.

“Our businesses need customer turnover to thrive, and it’s more important than ever as we try and rebuild our economy following the coronavirus pandemic that customers easily come and go from their local businesses,” Mr Schrinner said.

Council’s 2019/20 parking fines revenue is $15 million less than its budgeted target of $37.5 million.

Council has budgeted to collect around $32.6 million in parking revenue in the 2020/21 financial year, with council officers enforcing a zero-tolerance approach to illegal parking, according to Mr Schrinner.

Anyone who thinks they have been unfairly fined can appeal it through Council’s three-stage process and Council will investigate every appeal made.

Suburbs where most fines were issued in 2019/2020

• Brisbane CBD

• South Brisbane

• Fortitude Valley

• Spring Hill

• Newstead

The most fines issued in 2019/20

• 18,152 stopping in a no stopping zone

• 9845 parking dangerously over a yellow line

• 9479 parking in a taxi zone

• 8899 parking in a clearway

• 7221 stopping in bus zones

• 2512 stopping and blocking someone’s driveway

• 1166 parking illegally in a no parking zone

• 239 being double parked