Casey Council fines couple $2k for cars parked on own property

A hardworking couple face thousands in council fines for storing vehicles on their own property, just months after Casey residents revolted against similar penalties.

Casey Council has fined a couple $2050 for storing these cars on their own Narre Warren North property. Picture: supplied

A hard working couple has been slapped with thousands in fines by a local council after an investigation found they were keeping multiple cars on their own property in Melbourne’s southeast.

Casey Council issued $2050 in fines to the Narre Warren North pair, just months after councillors and staff needed police protection from angry residents lashing out about pricey permits required to keep unregistered vehicles on private property.

The couple, who asked not to be named, were each fined $1018 for having 10 cars parked on their property.

The cars belong to a licensed motor car trader who lives at the property.

He said the cars are all in good condition and registered with the only work carried out on site being an “occasional wash and vacuum”.

Casey Council has fined a resident and his wife for storing multiple cars on their residential property. Picture: supplied

The vehicles are not sold from the property.

“You can barely see them from the road. It’s not like the place looks like a wrecking yard,” he said.

“They also fined my wife for the same reason because her name is on the property title.

“It’s a complete overreach.”

The fines, seen by the Herald Sun, state both residents were in breach of Casey’s Planning Scheme.

The car trader said he had asked the council if he could apply for a permit for the vehicles and was told “not in Casey”.

The man said he had been parking cars at the 0.5ha property for 11 years and since the Covid pandemic could not afford to rent separate land to store the vehicles.

“I live a quiet life. I just want to stay in my own lane, pay the mortgage and put food on the table for my family,” he said.

A Casey council spokesperson said the property was at the centre of ongoing community concerns, first flagged in 2018.

“Council officers have repeatedly visited the site in an effort to address the ongoing concerns raised by residents,” the spokesman said.

The property is located within a Low Density Residential Zone (LDRZ) where operating a vehicle store was subject to strict conditions including keeping the cars in a building.

“The landowners have been warned multiple times,” the spokesperson said.

“Should the unlawful activity continue, further enforcement action may be taken.”

The spokesman also said it was not uncommon for all individuals listed on a property title to be held jointly responsible for breaches of planning laws.

Councillors and staff were escorted out of a council meeting by police after a tense protest from more than 500 local residents.

Libertarian MP David Limbrick said the cars were “not inconveniencing anybody in any way”.

“The crazy part is if he parked them by the side of the road it would be legal. He’s doing the community a favour keeping them on his property,” he said.

Mr Limbrick said Casey councillors would consider new draft local laws on Tuesday night and thousands will be watching.

He said the car trader’s case showed that if the new laws didn’t better reflect ratepayers’ needs, “the councillors need to throw them out.”

The council came under fire at a council meeting in February over its current local laws which required homeowners to apply for private land use permits of up to $473 to store vehicles on their properties.

The council charges a non-refundable $150 application fee, plus a permit fee of $150 for residents to use mini-bikes, motorbikes, go-karts on their own properties.

Residents are also now charged $250 per vehicle to store “derelict or unregistered vehicles” and $350 for long-term storage of caravans, camper trailers and tents.

At the time Casey council said the intention of the permits was to “support and protect the peace, health, safety and wellbeing of the community”.

More than 500 residents at a fiery City of Casey council meeting. Picture: facebook

Mayor Stefan Koomen told the angry crowd the new permits were “not a revenue raising exercise” and had only generated $8000 in the last 18 months.

Police were called to the February 18 meeting which was adjourned twice before being called off altogether.

At the time Mr Koomen said while disappointed by the behaviour of the crowd he understood

the “real frustration” felt in the community following five years under administration after the council was rocked by a corruption scandal in 2020.

An investigation by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) found that former councillors Sam Aziz and Geoff Ablett had pocketed donations and payments from a property developer and in exchange swayed planning decisions.

The Herald Sun reported at the time the donation scandal broke that Sam Aziz had pocketed $900,000.

The council was subsequently sacked and replaced with administrators until October 2024.

Following the community backlash over its local laws the new council undertook extensive community consultation when reviewing the rules and drafting its Community Local Law 2025.

A council report, to be tabled on Tuesday, revealed external consultants were engaged to help with the review and inform an internal working group comprising council staff.

The review has promoted proposed changes to the local law including removing a clause regulating vehicle repair and unregistered vehicles on private property.

Instead matters relating to excess unregistered vehicles or vehicle parts on private land will

be managed through the unsightly clause.