Manly resident disputes $106 infringrement notice as council admits to “teething problems”

A  Manly resident is furious after getting a $106 fine because of a glitch in the council’s digital parking meter.

Woman cops unfair parking fine because of glitch in ticket station. Leslie Sargaent parked her car on N Steyne and put her rego in the ticket box. She was fined 5 minutes later - even the council said they'd had teething problems with the machine but they wouldn't reverse the fine, she went to SDRO and they refused her appeal as well.

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A Manly resident is furious after getting a $106 fine because of a glitch in the council’s digital parking meter.

Lesley Sargeant said she parked on Manly’s ocean front to go for a run about 11am on February 22. She put her registration in for two and a half hours and then left.

A short time later she ran past her car and noticed she had been issued a ticket.

The time on the ticket was 11.10am, just five minutes after she had clocked her registration.

“I looked at the meter and it clearly said that I was using time,” she said.

Ms Sargeant said the issue with the machine was that people could not tell on the meter when the time started or their expiry time.

Knowing she was not in the wrong, Ms Sargeant went straight to the council.

“A council staff member told me that they’d been having teething problems with the machines,” she said.

Ms Sargeant also said the staff member admitted to a delay in the system between when a car registration was entered and when a digital ticket was issued.

Despite this, the staff member said the council was unable to reverse the fine because when the ranger checked her registration, it said “unticketed”.

Ms Sargeant appealed the ticket to the State Debt Recovery office but it was rejected two days ago.

“I am furious, to say the least.

“I have done nothing wrong. I’m a resident and I have been parking down in Manly for a long time.”

A council spokesman said it was currently reviewing the infringement.

“Accordingly, once the review is finalised, the affected person will be advised of the outcome in writing,” he said.

The council switched to its digital permit system last month. As part of the change, residents are not required to display a paper ticket.

Ms Sargeant said paper tickets at least gave proof of a motorist’s parking time.