Lane Cove Council’s new car idling ban in school zones branded ‘overkill’

In an Australian first, parents could be fined for not turning off their cars during school pick-up run. And not everyone is happy about the move.

In an Australian first, parents could soon be fined for not turning off their cars during school pick-up runs, under one local Sydney council’s radical new plan to crackdown on pollution from vehicles idling outside school gates.

Lane Cove Council, on Sydney’s lower north shore, is calling on the NSW government to introduce a new traffic offence that would ban the idling of a motor vehicle of engines for any period longer than two minutes.

Last month, council resoundingly passed a motion on the issue (7 votes to 2).

Mayor Andrew Zbik has now written to NSW Roads Minister John Graham calling for relevant state legislation and regulations to be amended to create the new traffic offence.

Lane Cove Council is calling on the NSW government to introduce a new traffic offence that would ban the idling of a motor vehicle of engines for any period longer than two minutes.

Mayor Zbik, denied to news.com.au it was a “revenue raising scheme” instead saying it was actually local residents who had repeatedly raised the issue with him.

“It is like a lot of these issues, 90 per cent of it is about stimulating awareness,” he said.

“In the worst case scenario you may cop a fine from a ranger but if everyone was aware it was an offence, I think the majority would follow the rules.

“Even if you have 50 per cent who are currently not idle, it would be a big improvement.

“We know overall we have to reduce our emissions and hopefully, with the uptake of electric cars, it will be less of an issue. Until then, it will still be a problem.”

But Lane Cove councillor Scott Bennison lambasted the move describing it as “another way of penalising mothers in the name of climate change”.

Lane Cove Mayor Andrew Zbik. Picture: John Appleyard

“It is an example of madness coming from the cult of climate change,” he told news.com.au.

“In every point they are trying to make life harder for ordinary families.”

Lane Cove Public School P&C president Caleb Taylor was cautious about the proposal saying it hadn’t been widely discussed by the P&C.

“I think it has some merit,” he told news.com.au. “But it is going to come down to what it entails and how it is implemented and the education behind it.

“I wouldn’t want to see parents slugged with fines and residents forced to foot the bills.”

Reaction on Lane Cove Council’s Facebook page has been mixed.

One person asked: “How do you justify the value of a fine? Who is the victims that deserves or needs this fine?”

Another suggested better signage around school pick up areas would go further than any fine.

While another commentator had this to say: “Yes you may be wasting petrol it’s also very bad to keep on turning on and off your hot motor in short bursts.”

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