Motorists zone out Author: MICHELLE HARRIS TRANSPORT Date: 08/07/2008 Publication: Newcastle Herald
LOADING and short-stay parking zones in Newcastle's city centre are being abused by motorists parking in the zones all day, causing grief for delivery drivers, a long-time Newcastle courier has said.
Ian Spruce says he is fed up and "mad as hell" after receiving a $185 fine from Newcastle City Council for partly parking in a no-stopping area on Hunter Street.
He said he did so because there was not enough room for his van in the loading zone because a car was parked in it.
In an effort to highlight the "rife" problem, Mr Spruce has sent a protest letter to the council and has begun documenting cars parked illegally in loading and 1/4-hour zones.
After only a week, he has gathered about 100 photos showing a number of cars parking in the zones throughout the city with no apparent consequence.
Some of the vehicles appear to park in the zones day after day.
Mr Spruce said this caused problems for the city's couriers and delivery drivers, who were usually on tight schedules and did not have time to drive around looking for somewhere else to park.
"They [motorists] just don't seem to care why would they when they're getting away with it?" he said.
Mr Spruce, a courier of 11 years' experience, said he was prepared to pay his fine, but could not understand why Newcastle City Council was not doing more to police the zones and catch out less-visible vehicles, as well as larger vehicles such as his own.
Mr Spruce's complaints come after The Herald reported on Saturday that a growing number of motorists displaying disabled parking permits are parking all day free of charge.
According to the council's parking handbook, only drivers of commercial vehicles may park in a loading zone for up to 30 minutes if the vehicle is being loaded or unloaded.
A station wagon may stop for up to 15 minutes.
Newcastle City Council was unable to contact its parking services co-ordinator late yesterday in time to provide comment.