Furore over nature strip parking fines in Roxburgh Park

A MAN fined for parking on a nature strip on his crowded street was so incensed that he challenged the matter in court — only to be slapped with a year-long good behaviour bond.

Baris Ayan, Huryasar Alcin and Meryem Aslan are among residents furious at fines being issued to people parked on nature strips on their narrow street. Picture: Carmelo Bazzano

PEOPLE living in a narrow Roxburgh Park street are outraged by Hume Council fining motorists who park on nature strips.

One resident who was so incensed by a fine that he challenged it in court was shocked to be slapped with a 12-month good behaviour bond.

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Hume Council has raked in more than $1 million from fining people who park on nature strips in the municipality in the past two years, it has been revealed.

The problem is particularly acute in Shepherd Ave, where residents have asked the council for indented parking or road widening in their street.

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Homeowners Baris Ayan and Meryem Aslan said they regularly heard car horns honking at night, because there was not enough room for vehicles to fit between parked cars in the street.

Mr Ayan said last month, after he received an infringement for parking on a nature strip, he decided to challenge the matter at Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court.

Instead of the fine being revoked, Mr Ayan was issued with a year-long good behaviour bond.

Hume Council fines people for parking on nature strip, who say they have ‘nowhere else to park’

“I am sickened by the Hume Council and the justice system, councils make loads and loads of money from fining us unfairly yet cannot fix these narrow streets,” Mr Ayan said.

Ms Aslan said she had not been fined for parking on a nature strip, but was “scared” for her children’s safety when crossing the road, due to parked vehicles blocking drivers’ views.

Joseph Haweil, who will stand for Aitken Ward at the upcoming council elections, said he would fight for cash for more indented parks if he was he was voted in.

Through Freedom of Information, Mr Haweil has discovered the council issued more than 16,880 infringements for parking on nature strips during the past two financial years, generating more than $1.04 million in revenue.

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Hume Council chief executive officer Domenic Isola said the council was legally obliged to enforce Victorian road rules, which forbids parking on nature strips.

In July, they adopted a Parking on Narrow Streets Policy that classified nine streets as needing indented parking — not including Shepherd Ave.

Mr Isola said surveys undertaken as part of the policy found the level of parking demand in Shepherd Ave “could be accommodated with vehicles parked on only one side of the street”.