Shane Hryhorec says City of Yarra Council ‘doesn’t give a sh-t about disabled people’

A disability advocate has slammed an inner city council for “not giving a sh-t about disabled people” after a parking fine and a dodgy sign landed him in court.

A leading disability advocate has slammed a Melbourne council over a parking fine and bent sign that landed him in court.

Richmond’s Shane Hryhorec needed to attend an essential medical appointment at the Richmond Medical Centre earlier this year, when he received a fine.

Mr Hryhorec – a C5 incomplete quadriplegic who uses a wheelchair to move – parked in the only marked disability spot outside the clinic on Coppin St between 9am and 10am on a Tuesday morning.

The street was signed as a clearway for before 10am due to street sweeping, however, Mr Hryhorec said the clearway signage was damaged, therefore not visible. Mr Hryhorec requested for a review of the fine from the City of Yarra Council, noting the damaged sign.

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Shane Hryhorec contested the fine at the Magistrates’ Court, where it was dismissed.

His review was refused, however, the parking sign was fixed within 24 hours.

“I had quite a few exchanges with the council,” Mr Hryhorec said.

“There was damage to the sign – there was no way to tell what was on the sign, until I’d parked and gotten out of the car and into my wheelchair.”

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“If I’d run out of medication it would have compromised my life,” he said.

“Who on earth would put a clear way for street sweeping at the front of a medical centre.

“It just shows the City of Yarra doesn’t give a sh-t about people with disabilities.”

Mr Hryhorec contested the fine at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, where it was dismissed this week.

“I feel for other people with disabilities out there that aren’t able to contest the fines,” he said.

“I did consider on multiple occasions not fighting it and just paying it so it would go away.

“But I did this because it’s the right thing to do.”

Mr Hryhorec has since called for better accessibility to parking and public transport for people with disabilities in the city of Yarra.

The Coppin St parking sign was fixed within 24 hours after Mr Hyrhorec was fined.

“I can’t use the trams in the city of Yarra because none of them are accessible, and I can’t use the train (at his local station) because the ramp is too steep,” he said.

“There’s definitely not enough support for disabled people who live in the community, this is just scratching the surface.”

“You would have thought they would have looked at this and thought ‘lets review the fine’. Our local government and its chief executive should have a little bit of empathy.”

Council Watch’s Dean Hurlston said the incident was indicative of bad council review processes.

“It’s more evidence of how appalling council’s treat parking issues for people affected by disability, while at the same time claiming they are inclusive” he said.

“Of course we agree that there is not adequate disabled parking and it needs to be looked at.

“We would also be questioning whether or not procedural fairness was upheld in the appeal and review process.”

The City of Yarra Council were contacted for comment and did not respond before deadline.