Parking fines ­fiasco could get even worse

A former mayor has ­described the parking fines ­fiasco as one of the biggest scandals to hit Victorian local government, as another ­council admitted it would refund millions of dollars to motorists.

Monash Council parking inspectors dish out a fine on Kingsway, Glen Waverley.

A former mayor has ­described the parking fines ­fiasco as one of the biggest scandals to hit Victorian local government, as another ­council admitted it would refund millions of dollars to motorists.

The City of Kingston will repay $2.3 million as a result of about 20,000 fines being ­illegally reviewed by an outside contractor between 2006 and 2016.

Earlier this week, Monash Council admitted to the same glitch involving parking contractor Tenix Solutions, and agreed to repay $2.6 million to 26,500 motorists.

Outside contractors who process fines are not permitted to conduct fine ­reviews when motorists appeal.

GLITCH COULD COST SOME VICTORIAN COUNCILS MILLIONS

FINED TWO MINUTES BEFORE TICKET EXPIRY

THE SPOT WHERE MOTORISTS ARE FINED $6K A MONTH

Monash Council parking inspectors dish out a fine on Kingsway, Glen Waverley.

Several other councils who used Tenix to run their fines systems claim their review processes were valid.

However, former Monash mayor and current councillor Geoff Lake said it was possible some councils were taking a big risk if their processes had been similar to Monash and Kingston.

“There are hundreds of thousands of Victorians who have paid money, and there is a real doubt over whether or not the councils they paid that money to are entitled to retain those payments,” he said.

“This is one of the biggest scandals to ever hit Victorian local government, and what is desperately needed is one of the integrity bodies in Victoria to step in and review the circumstances that appear to exist across several councils.”

Mr Lake, a lawyer, said he had tried to get Monash to resolve the situation much earlier because of the trust and transparency issues involved.

A ticket dished out by Monash Council parking inspectors.

“The public needs to have confidence that the people running their councils in this state are doing so with the highest regard to the law and public ethics,” he said.

Mr Lake said he didn’t back claims by some councils that the problem was due to a lack of clarity in the legislation.

Kingston mayor Georgina Oxley said the wording of the Infringements Act 2006 was unclear and advice on the issue had been mixed. The council will write to Attorney-General Jill Hennessy requesting the anomaly be fixed.

Councils such as Glen Eira, Port Phillip and Stonnington have indicated they have no problems. The City of Greater Geelong said this week it was reviewing appeals for fines ­issued between 2009 and 2018.

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