Not noice: Council slap parking fines at Kath and Kim brain cancer fundraiser
Council inspectors have had a field day at the Kath and Kim open house charity fundraiser in Patterson Lakes, stinging diehard fans for parking “dangerously” nearby — and the organiser has pledged to pay them, affecting the final tally of donations.
Inner South
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The organiser of a Kath and Kim charity fundraiser has slammed Kingston Council for sending a parking inspector to the event and pledged to pay the $1900 in fines of fans who were stung.
Mum Joanne Kelly said it was a “poor effort” as the council cashed in toot sweet when more than 3000 diehard Kath and Kim fans flocked to ‘Fountain’ Lakes on Saturday.
Ms Kelly, who lost her first husband to brain cancer, charged $5 for a peek inside the TV house before it undergoes major renovations, raising money for Carrie Bickmore’s Beanies 4 Brain Cancer.
“It was not a great way to finish what was an amazing day … once I heard the inspector was out there I was pretty disappointed,” Ms Kelly said.
“The inspector could have come up to me or the others running the event and told us and we could have got them to move.
“It’s a poor effort on their behalf, they knew it was for charity.”
At least one parking inspector was seen slapping fines of up to $165 on unknowing fans as they queued up to take a look inside the Lagoon Pl house where the Kath and Kim was filmed.
Attendee Nikki Higgins told the Leader she and her wife were driving when she noticed an officer issuing tickets on Palm Beach Dr.
“We stopped briefly to ask if he knew this was a charity event, and filled with attitude, he said ‘well no actually, I didn’t’,” she said.
Ms Higgins said she told the man he should have “had some respect” to which he replied “so should you”.
“We couldn’t believe it … there was no empathy. There’s no way they didn’t know it was (a charity event) … it was advertised everywhere,” she said.
“I saw MP Sonya Kilkenny out the front while I stood in line at the coffee van … so if she knew (about the event) surely council wasn’t in the dark.”
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But Kingston Council said it was responding to community members who phoned worried about safety in their street due to “dangerously” parked cars.
Twelve motorists were fined — 11 for parking in no-stop zones (a fine of $165 each) and one for parking the wrong way round (a $99 fine).
Kingston planning and development general manager Jonathan Guttmann said the council only fined cars that posed a direct safety risk.
“Council supports community fundraising efforts and we were happy to excuse minor issues such as parking on the nature strip, however, council has a responsibility to make sure our local streets are safe for everyone,” he said.
“For that reason, we only fined cars in direct safety breaches.”
Ms Kelly said despite the fines, the day “could not have been better”, with tens of thousands of dollars raised for the cause and all available food and merchandise selling out.
“We’re finalising counting the donations but I think we have raised more than $30,000 … it was just amazing,” she said.
“It couldn’t have gone any smoother … we made sure everyone got through the queue and everyone was having fun.”
Ms Kelly urged anyone who was fined on the day to get in touch via the event Facebook page.
“We really want to pay the fines back,” she said.
Donations have soared past $20,000 and more than $9,000 has been raised online.
To donate, click here