Number of council parking fines triple: ABC Online Mon Feb 11, 2008 2:50pm AEDT
New figures from the New South Wales Office of State Revenue show a tripling in the number of parking fines issued by councils, with more than 1.2 million parking tickets issued last financial year, compared to only 450,000 the year before.
Opposition roads spokesman Duncan Gay says councils see the fines as an essential means of raising revenue because the State Government is underfunding them.
"As a former shadow minister for local government I know how they were looking forward to getting the ability to collect parking fines to balance up their rates," he said.
"And that was the way the government sold it to them."
Roads Minister Eric Roozendaal says he will ask the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) to look at how councils enforce parking restrictions.
"We do want councils to get the right balance in enforcing parking restrictions and still allowing motorists to get around and get on with their daily lives," Mr Roozendaal said.