MardiGrass parking bust

THE NUMBER of parking fines issued was almost triple the number of drug detections at the weekend’s 21st annual MardiGrass.

Punters fill the main street at the 2013 Nimbin Mardi Grass. Picture: Patrick Gorbunovs

THE NUMBER of parking fines issued was almost triple the number of drug detections at the weekend's 21st annual MardiGrass with police saying most people who attended were well behaved.

Nimbin Hemp Embassy President Michael Balderstone said the weekend, which was a great success, was tainted by visitors to the town being fined up to $232 for parking illegally.

A Lismore City Council spokeswoman said council rangers issued about 100 fines for illegal parking over the weekend. 

"It was a terrific weekend but increasingly there are new regulations and rules on the DA (development application for MardiGrass) so there were all these new streets with no parking," Mr Balderstone said.

The community even put up tape to highlight the No Stopping areas but drivers just drove over the taped area

Mr Balderstone said the Hemp Embassy wrote to residents of Nimbin and surrounding areas informing them of the new No Stopping zones, but he believed mainly visitors to the town were fined.

"These visitors roll into town and think this is cool, and the council rangers were out writing ticket after ticket," he said.

"The sad bit is I think those people won't come back to Nimbin in a hurry."

The council spokeswoman said rangers were sent to Nimbin for the MardiGrass festival because of complaints from residents about parking in previous years.

"The rangers were tasked to attend MardiGrass this year after residents expressed concerns in previous years about visitors parking across driveways and not observing parking restrictions and approved camping areas," the spokeswoman said.

"The residents of Cecil St, Nimbin were very grateful for the assistance of the Rangers."

The spokeswoman said rangers reported residents were telling motorists not to park in the No Stopping zone but the drivers took no notice.

"The community even put up tape to highlight the No Stopping areas but drivers just drove over the taped area," she said.

Richmond Local Area Command Crime Manager Detective Inspector Greg Moore said most festival goers were generally well behaved.

"Police were keen to ensure the festival went ahead without too many major problems and one of our risk reduction strategies was to conduct regular patrols and random breath testing," he said.

Det Insp Moore said 38 people were detected with drugs, seven arrests were made with 18 charges being laid, 115 drug dog searches were conducted and 954 people were breath tested over the three days of MardiGrass.

Police allege a 21-year-old Queensland man was found in possession of 10 ecstasy tablets and a 23-year-old Kyogle man in possession of 49 ecstasy tablets.

The 21-year-old was charged with supply and investigations into the 23-year-old man are ongoing.

Nimbin MardiGrass

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