Parking cameras catching unwary By: LAUREL-LEE RODERICK Date: 07/11/2005 Publication: Illawarra Mercury
MOTORISTS beware - just when you thought nobody was watching, Wollongong's parking paparazzi have you in their sights.
Wollongong City Council parking rangers are using digital cameras to catch unsuspecting motorists who flout the city's parking regulations.
More than 11,000 parking tickets worth almost $1.25 million were issued to motorists in Wollongong in the year to June 30.
And if you thought the absence of a yellow envelope on your windscreen meant you were safe, think again.
Rangers are also using drive-by tactics to snap drivers pulling over in no stopping zones and other hazardous locations.
The practice has angered a Wollongong woman who contacted the Mercury after she was photographed dropping off her 76-year-old mother in a no stopping zone in Smith St, Wollongong, last month.
The woman received a $175 fine in the mail four days later. She said the conduct raised serious questions about privacy and she wanted to warn others who might not realise they could be photographed without their knowledge. She has contacted the council's general manager Rod Oxley, Cunningham MP Sharon Bird and the NSW Privacy Commissioner to express her concerns.
The council's acting environment and health manager Dr David Blackmore defended the practice and dismissed suggestions it impinged on individuals' privacy. He said the city's six parking rangers had been using cameras to document parking infringements since they started work more than two years ago.
The use of digital photographs served three purposes.
"Number one is safety because we don't want to be causing a traffic hazard in heavy traffic or building zones and we don't want to block traffic," Dr Blackmore said.
"The second case is if the incidents are transient in nature, such as pulling up in a no stopping zone. The third reason is as a quality control procedure."
Most parking offences are recorded with photographs, along with other offences including illegal dumping.
"People have the right to appeal the fine and if they write in we have a legitimate basis to say they committed the offence," Dr Blackmore said.
Wollongong is the only council in the Illawarra to regularly use cameras to catch illegal parkers.
Shellharbour City Council does not have any dedicated parking rangers. It employs ordinance officers to monitor parking, illegal dumping and companion animals but the officers are not equipped with cameras.
Kiama Municipal Council employs one parking ranger on a casual basis. A spokeswoman said cameras were used as required for evidence of parking offences but it was not a routine practice.
The Infringement Processing Bureau, which sends out penalty notices on behalf of councils, was unable to confirm how many NSW councils use cameras to police parking.