Parking app: Sydney’s inner-west tops list of citizens dobbing on illegal carparkers
EVERYDAY citizens are becoming vigilante parking officers — grassing up their neighbours and co-workers who park illegally and letting them learn the hard way. Find out who are the top dobbers.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
INNER Westies have emerged as Sydney’s biggest dobbers, with the council area’s residents topping a list for reporting friends and neighbours over parking infringements.
The massive council area — which takes in the former councils of Leichhardt, Marrickville and Ashfield — has topped the list for complaints about illegal parking sent to the smartphone app, Snap Send Solve, which then sends the tips to the local council to investigate.
The City of Sydney came in second followed by Liverpool, Blacktown, Parramatta, Rockdale, Auburn and Canterbury for the list of the city’s top dobbers so far this year.
Gone are the days when parking officers would simply walk the street chalking cars. Now they are actively investigating leads using this new app, which has more than 100,000 users across the country.
MORE STORIES
► BRADFIELD: BUILD SYDNEY FOR THE FUTURE
► BRADFIELD: WHAT WILL SYDNEY LOOK LIKE IN 2025
The app’s founder Daniel Gorog said many Sydney councils were also responding to residents’ tip-offs.
“Customer service teams in many councils in Sydney will forward on parking reports directly to parking inspectors to action when they are received,” he said.
“Snap Send Solve reports sent to council contain accurate geolocation information and a photograph, so councils can act quickly.”
An Inner West Council spokeswoman confirmed they were using the app along with social media to deploy parking rangers, but said it would not fine motorists on a photo alone. Instead, it would send a ranger to check the area.
“Council’s Facebook and Twitter accounts are monitored regularly, and all posts and messages are forwarded to either customer service or the relevant council officer,” she said. “Inner West Council actively encourages our citizens to use Snap Send Solve as a way to report issues. It should also be noted that council can’t book on photo evidence alone provided by residents.
“Council responds by sending a ranger to patrol the area.
“It’s always better and faster to call council directly and request a ranger patrol.”
Blacktown Council confirmed it was using a number of social media avenues as well as email to investigate and pounce on illegal parkers.
“Whether people phone, email, snap, post or tweet us about illegal parking, we respond,” Blacktown mayor Stephen Bali said.
“Anything that makes it easier for us to track down people overstaying their limit and denying other people a parking space is worth using.”
He said the high incidence of complaints in Blacktown could be linked to its large population and geography.
City of Parramatta said it has an app available to use, but was urging people to contact the council directly so it could address parking issues as quickly as possible. The City of Sydney said rangers were still proactively patrolling the entire local government area — but were also actively investigating tips from the Snap Send Solve app.
Similarly to the Inner West, it said it still needed rangers to be present for a ticket to be issued.
Leichhardt residents Rhees Goodridge and Hannah Maguire said parking was very tricky around the small streets of the inner west.
But they said they wouldn’t resort to dobbing someone in.
“It all sounds a bit vengeful,” Mr Goodridge said.
“Maybe if we were completely blocked in and couldn’t use our driveway, but if it was just a bit of a nuisance, I’d be like ‘whatever’.”
Britt Altpete said she would happily use an app to dob illegal parkers in given how the streets near her inner west home became clogged with visitors most weekends.
“I have been parked in my house before, I haven’t been able to reverse out because the cars had been so close,” the Newington resident said.