Ouch! Man’s $1700 fine after taking Gold Coast Council to court over parking fine

EVER argued with the Gold Coast council over a parking fine? This Sydney businessman did, and now it’s cost him.

Nobody likes a parking ticket.

A SYDNEY business man who parked on a yellow line he couldn’t see in the dark has lost a court appeal against a Gold Coast City Council parking ticket — turning a $147 fine into a $1750 bill.

Mark Ivers, through his company Speed Media, appealed the fine in Southport Magistrates Court, saying the yellow line, on Markwell Ave in Surfers Paradise, had not been visible when he parked his silver ute there the night of April 15 last year.

Prosecutor Justin Mathews, hired by Gold Coast City Council, presented evidence including the parking ticket, city parking plan and company records demonstrating Mr Ivers was responsible for the vehicle.

He called parking officer Rohan Voss, who issued the ticket and took photos of the vehicle, as a witness.

Mr Voss said the line was clearly visible due to lighting from the nearby Wyndham Resort and pointed to the photo which showed the line extending from the front of the vehicle and coming out the other side.

Representing himself in court, Mr Ivers conceded under questioning he did not know a yellow line on a road meant you couldn’t park there, saying the rule was not published on the Queensland Transport website.

“I think the rule is unfair,” he said.

“I put it to the council that if they put a sign there I would pay the fine because you can’t see the line at night.”

He attempted to tender as evidence a Google street view image of Markwell Ave, but Magistrate Andrew Sinclair ruled it was inadmissable because he didn’t take the photo himself and could not verify when it was taken.

Mr Sinclair said neither a failure to see a traffic marking, nor an ignorance of the law, was a valid reason to escape the fine.

He said he was satisfied that there was a yellow line there and that Mr Ivers had parked on it, ordering he pay the original $147 fine, as well as $1602 in legal and other costs.