Central West parking fines: Bathurst, Orange, Dubbo figures revealed

Dubbo, Orange and Bathurst councils pocketed more than $800,000 from parking fines in a 12-month period, however one city eclipsed all others by far when it came to fines dished out.

Orange City Council is the worst in the Central West when it comes to dishing out parking fines and raking in the most cash from motorists.

According to data from Revenue NSW, the council pocketed $527,231 after it handed out 2566 parking fines during the 2020-2021 financial year.

Parking rangers handed out thousands of fines in the central west last year. Picture: John Grainger

The number of parking fines handed out, and proceeds collected by Orange council were way above other major central west councils in Bathurst and Dubbo.

In 2020-2021 Dubbo council pocketed $268,559 from 1716 parking fines it handed out.

Bathurst council was the least harsh in the parking department, collecting just $89,449 from 280 parking fines handed out in 2020-21.

The most recent figures were down significantly on the record $424,251 Bathurst council pocketed from handing out 2277 parking fines in 2019-20.

Orange also handed out more parking fines in 2019-20 and collected $860,670 from 5328 fines.

Dubbo handed out 1905 fines in 2019-20, however the council received less money ($265,494) in that period compared to 2020-21, despite handing out more fines.

Nick Redmond, Orange council’s community and corporate relations manager, said fines were issued as a deterrent and “when comparing how local councils manage parking, looking at the total amount of fines is only one measure”.

“How often a fine issued is also affected by factors such as the number of public car parks, privately-owned car parks in shopping centres, the availability of parking officers, and other matters,” Mr Redmond said.

“The three cities also have very different retail centres, with Orange being more compact than others where shopping centres are much more spread out.

A city ranger is seen putting a parking fine on a car. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jenny Evans

Mr Redmond told The Dubbo News parking fine revenue was shared between the NSW Government and the local council.

“In high-demand areas where there are time-limits to parking zones, it’s important to local shopkeepers to encourage a regular turnover of cars using parking spaces … management of parking in Orange is aimed at sharing the available parking spaces fairly between shoppers and people who want to use them,” he said.

“Orange City Council has responded to the Covid pandemic in a number of ways which affect parking. To assist local businesses, one car park which was previously a paid parking area, was made free for a number of months … to further assist local business for some months of last year, except where there was a potential safety risk to the community, parking officers issued warnings rather than imposing fines.”

One of the thousands of parking fines issued in central west NSW. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

Michael Jarman, Dubbo council’s environmental compliance manager, said parking fine figures changed each year because of a range of factors including different staffing levels, more people doing the right or wrong thing and an increase or decrease in education programs.

“It‘s very important to understand and know that the dollar amount of fines are set by NSW Government and not councils,” he said.

“ If the cost of each infringement is increased even by a few dollars each year, then accordingly the amount collected will increase.”

A sight many motorists dread returning to after they have parked their car. Picture: Dylan Robinson

Mr Jarman said Covid-19 was the main reason council’s were handing out less fines.

“The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic severely restricted the movement of council staff, add this to staff taking leave, the number of infringements reduced.

“It’s also possible that due to restrictions on movement, there were fewer cars parking illegally and therefore fewer infringement notices distributed.

“During last year’s Covid-19 emergency and public health orders, staff were redeployed to other office-based work to avoid customer contact … during this current Covid-19 emergency our staff have been redeployed to assist with traffic operations and safety at the Dubbo Showground Covid testing site … which is why our revenue may drop.”

Bathurst council’s corporate services and finance director Aaron Jones echoed Mr Jarman’s comments and said fewer fines were handed out during the pandemic because his council decided to issue warnings instead.

“However, if the parking breach presented a risk to public safety then a fine was served,” Mr Jones said.

“Parking fine revenue is captured in council’s general revenue which is used to help fund council’s day-to-day operations, which includes the cost associated with enforcement of parking restrictions.”