A former traffic cop who lost a parking dispute with Wyndham council has been ordered to pay the council’s legal fees.
Wyndham Vale resident Graeme Lee took the council to Werribee Magistrates Court recently over two parking fines he received last year for parking along the dividing strip across from his Ballan Road property.
The initial fine was waived after Mr Lee argued that he parked along the shoulder of a road, not a dividing strip, which was not an offence.
He was shocked to receive a second fine, which was later downgraded to an official warning. Instead of accepting the warning, Mr Lee opted to take the matter to court to settle the dispute.
But the magistrate upheld the second fine and also ordered Mr Lee to pay the council’s court costs of $800.
Mr Lee branded the ruling ridiculous.
“You can park on the shoulder of the road on Ballan Road, but you can’t park on the shoulder of the service road [of Ballan Road],” he said.
Mr Lee said he would not appeal.
Wyndham council city operations director Stephen Thorpe said it was unfortunate the matter ended up in court.
“On multiple occasions council offered Mr Lee the option of resolving the matter by paying the original infringement amount of $93, but he chose to proceed to court,” Mr Thorpe said.
