Princes Hill Secondary College teachers launch petition to improve staff parking

Furious teachers from an inner-city school say they have to leave class to move their cars while making an urgent appeal for parking permits.

Teachers from Princes Hill Secondary College are being forced to leave class to move their cars or risk hefty fines because there is no permit system in place.

Teachers from an inner-city school are being forced to leave class to move their cars or risk hefty fines because there is no permit system in place.

Princes Hill Secondary College teachers say they desperately need all-day permits to park in surrounding streets to avoid disruptions during class and being fined by council inspectors.

The school, which has more than 100 teaching and non-teaching staff employed, doesn’t have a designated staff parking area, which has forced teachers for several years to park in surrounding streets.

In a statement to the Herald Sun, teachers Jamiel Sabbagh and Andy Kemp said parking had become a “significant issue” in the past month after the council changed the zones from eight to four hours forcing staff to move their cars at least once a day.

They presented a petition at Tuesday night’s Yarra Council meeting, which was signed by more than 60 teachers, who are calling for improved parking arrangements.

“There are limited four-hour parking areas, most are two hours,” the statement said.

“Teachers should be teaching, not worried about moving their car to avoid a fine.

“We need to support our students and providing free parking permits to staff is an easy fix that can be addressed quickly by the council. It’s low cost.”

Yarra, a Greens-dominated council, has a strong sustainability agenda which promotes public transport, cycling and walking.

Cr Stephen Jolly said he believed parking was the council’s responsibility.

“Teachers’ working lives are being made impossible, they literally have to go out onto the street in the middle of classes to move their cars, it just seems crazy,” he said.

“If we allow them to park the whole day, it would be the same number of cars on the streets – so it wouldn’t impact residents at all.”

Yarra councillor Herschel Landes, who represents the Melba ward, said the petition would be processed by officers and given due consideration.

“The problem remains the contested demands for parking spaces and finite resources,” he said.

MySchool data shows the school last year had 870 students and more than 100 teaching and non-teaching staff working part time and full time.

To be eligible for a parking permit in Yarra, residents need to supply proof of residency or ownership.

A Yarra Council spokeswoman confirmed the petition had been tabled at the meeting, saying the council would look into the matter.

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