EXCLUSIVE: Councils caught issuing dodgy parking tickets Yoni Bashan Macquarie National News 3/10/2008 9:00:00 AM.
Drivers have scored a moral victory against over-zealous parking officers who've been forced to rip up more than 100,000 infringement notices which should never have been printed.
The State Debt Recovery Office has cancelled millions of dollars worth of parking fines in the last five years because council rangers are misinterpreting legislation and issuing tickets for the wrong reasons.
Figures obtained exclusively under Freedom of Information show 150,937 tickets have been quashed on appeal, and Macquarie News can also reveal drivers in Sydney's CBD are the most likely to be issued a dodgy ticket than any other region in New South Wales.
The City of Sydney Council has overturned 21,110 infringements since 2002, or 10 fines a day, almost costing road-users $3 million dollars in fines they shouldn't have been told to pay.
The embarrassing data could resurrect long held suspicions that local governments are putting too much pressure on their rangers to meet revenue quotas and help prop up depleted treasury coffers.
Thousands of angry motorists in the Waverley, North Sydney, Leichhardt and Liverpool councils have also successfully appealed their parking infringements, and across the state's 148 localities, motorists have clawed back almost $20 million by contesting the fines.
The figures come as drivers contend with soaring petrol prices and rising tollway fees just to commute to and from work.
Last week it was revealed the Eastern Distributor tunnel will climb by 50 cents to $5 on April 1; the Cross City Tunnel will also lift its rate by 46 cents on the same day.
NRMA president Alan Evans warns the excessive and unnecessary infringements will drive consumers away from Sydney's business centres.
Councils are actually killing the life blood of many commercial businesses because theyre making it so difficult for motorists to park, or theyre costing so much in fines that motorists avoid those areas.
We do encourage drivers to take these matters up with the Office of State Revenue or local council because in many cases its over-zealous on the part of parking officials or failure to properly interpret the law.