Controversial Gold Coast parking fine now costs more than $200

Tickets for a simple mistake made by many drivers in Gold Coast suburbs will now cost more than $200 after council parking fines went up again. Full details.

Motorists fined for parking with a wheel on a nature strip face being stung more than $200 a pop after the penalty rose again on July 1.

The unpopular penalty for parking on a nature strip, which notoriously affects cars parked on narrow suburban streets, will now set back motorists $201 – up from $193 last year. Three years ago the fine was just $110.

The rise comes because state government penalty units, which council uses to determine fines, rose from $154.80 to $161.30 at the start of the new financial year.

Other fines have also risen in value, including for failure to pay at a meter, which will now cost $108, and parking in a loading zone, which carries a fine of $128.

Parking with two wheels on a nature strip could now set you back more than $200.

Theodore MP Mark Boothman, whose northern Gold Coast electorate covers areas including Helensvale, Upper Coomera and Oxenford, earlier this year urged council to reconsider the cost of the fines for parking with two wheels on the grass in light of cost of living pressures.

“As cost of living has been increasing, it is forcing more and more people to live in a single dwelling, so more cars are attached to that dwelling. You can’t physically park them all on driveways and in garages. There’s just too many cars,” he said.

“As part of cost of living relief, we need to be smarter about this and give flexibility.

“Council needs to do their part to help families during these very tough times. They need to give leeway.”

Theodore MP Mark Boothman.

Mr Boothman said people in narrow suburban streets often found themselves caught between not wanting to be fined and not wanting to potentially block the path of emergency services.

Unlike the Gold Coast, Logan council allows for cars to park on nature strips where roads are less than six metres wide so long as pathways are not blocked.

“We are potentially putting people’s lives at risk,” Mr Boothman said.

“It has happened before where ambulances have had trouble getting to locations because the roads are clogged with vehicles.

“Hence Logan City Council have actually done the smart thing by implementing some leeway, for public safety reasons, to allow their residents to park on the verges.”

Follow @keithjwoods