By Alesha Capone
A driver has slammed the “unbelievably unfair” fines given to her and others for parking in non-designated spaces at Tarneit train station.
Bianca Keogh said that she was not a regular commuter, but decided to take the train to the city one day last month.
She said she drove to the station about 9am and ended up doing four laps of the carpark “… only to find there was not one spot on either side of the station”.
Ms Keogh said she saw many vehicles “parked in the middle of the road, on zebra crossings and on the side of road, in the paddock next door”. She parked on the side of the entrance road, “just like the other 100 cars who had parked ‘illegally’.”
“But on my return I found a $99 fine on my car,” she said.
Ms Keogh said that it was unfair of the council to fine travellers who had no other option but to park in non-designated spaces.
“I figured my council knew how desperate commuters were to use our train systems and wouldn’t go about fining all of us,” she said.
Wyndham council’s director of city operations, Stephen Thorpe, said: “While we understand Ms Keogh’s frustrations with parking near Tarneit railway station, it does not justify illegal parking”.
“Illegal parking cannot be overlooked by council because our priority is the safety of road users.
“Wyndham City acknowledges that parking at local railway stations is currently at capacity, limiting the number of people who can use public transport to travel to and from work, which adds to congestion on local roads,” he said.
Mr Thorpe said the council was “constantly advocating [the state government] for more parking at our local train stations”.
In the past year, the council has issued 919 parking tickets to illegally-parked vehicles in the streets around Tarneit station.
