By Alesha Capone
Wyndham council will be “clamping down” on issues such as unsafe parking around schools and residents who fail to register their pets, in a bid to make up a shortfall of $1.2 million in fines revenue.
The council released a financial management report earlier this month, comparing its financial position for the 12 months to November 30, 2019 to its actual adopted budget for the timeframe.
The report revealed that the council’s earnings from fees and fines were lower than expected.
The council’s city operations director, Stephen Thorpe, said the drop in fines revenue could be “explained by a reduction in offences, especially parking offences”.
“Motorists have changed their behaviour and our officers are not finding as many illegally parked cars,” he said.
“Council officers will, wherever possible, explain to residents why there are laws controlling parking, planning permits, building sites, and responsible pet ownership, and how they can make sure they are complying with these laws.
“This fresh approach has changed residents’ behaviour for the better and, as a result, reduced our fines revenue.”
Mr Thorpe said that while the council would “continue this positive approach”, there were “some areas where we will not hesitate to issue fines for unsafe behaviour”.
“We will continue to take a zero-tolerance approach to residents parking unsafely around schools; to companies breaching building site safety; to truck owners parking too long on residential streets; and pet owners failing to register their animals,” he said.
“We will be clamping down strongly on those flouting these laws because the safety of our residents and pride in our city are paramount.
“Because we are intensifying our vigilance in these areas, we expect our fines revenue will increase in the current financial year.”
