Revealed: Highest earning street for parking meter fines

Darling St in Balmain has been outed as the highest earning street for parking meter fines in the Inner West Council LGA with $365,476 worth of infringements dished out in 2017-2018.

Darling St in Balmain has been outed as the highest earning street for parking machine revenue in the inner west LGA.

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DARLING ST in Balmain has been outed as the highest earning street for parking meter fines in the Inner West Council LGA with $365,476 worth of infringements dished out in 2017-2018.

But meter infringements are just a drop in the ocean with official figures revealing the council is second only to the City of Sydney with the amount of parking fines it issued and the revenue it collected from parking offences; a whopping $12.3 million from 88,860 fines — an average of 243 a day — in 2017-2018.

On July 1 the NSW Government slashed 10 of the most common parking fines in areas it polices by 25 per cent and it will change regulations to allow councils to charge lower amounts for a range of parking offences before the end of the year.

Treasurer Dominic Perrottet told the Courier it was time for the council to “give motorists a break” and “stop treating people as tap and go machines”.

He called on all councils to follow in the NSW Government’s footsteps when the regulations change.

“I would hope the Inner West Council follows our lead and does not try and avoid the opportunity they will have very soon to ease off on the parking fine sugar hit,” Mr Perrottet said.

Inner West Council is second only to City of Sydney for parking fine revenue.

Analysis by statistician and Inner West councillor John Stamolis reveals the number of parking fines issued by the council is 40 per cent higher than bronze medallist Northern Beaches Council and 44 per cent higher than the fourth highest Waverley, which both get to sting tourists flocking to Australia’s most famous beaches.

Cr Stamolis said: “In a subdued retail environment, heavy issuance of parking fines will cause a problem for our local businesses. It’s also odd when we see one area of council doing its best to assist our local businesses while another area is dishing out fines at the fastest pace in NSW.”

Lennox St in Newtown and Darling St in Rozelle are also top money spinners for the council.

City of Sydney is streets ahead of all councils in terms of how many fines it dishes out.

A council spokeswoman said it aims “to address the increasing demand for parking in our extremely busy inner city residential and business areas”.

“Should the NSW Government commit to giving councils the flexibility to charge lower amounts, then council will certainly take that into consideration.”

In April, the council turned off parking meters in Norton St, Leichhardt, and Darling St, Balmain and Rozelle, after 7pm.

“Council has also committed to no new parking meters being introduced and is investigating extending 30 minute free parking to all meters.

Across the inner west, King St is the most lucrative for parking meter fines with the City of Sydney raking in $554,000 in 2017-2018 from the 19 machines it controls on the popular dining strip.

A City of Sydney spokeswoman parking fine amounts are set by the State Government.

“The City of Sydney has not been given authority by the State government to alter rates for parking offences,” she said.

“Any revenue from parking fines becomes part of the City’s general revenue, which is used to maintain assets including roads, and deliver important services to the community.