by Alesha Capone
Staff members from a Hoppers Crossing special school, who use a nearby shopping centre’s car park, are putting printed signs inside their vehicles to prevent them from being towed.
Wyndham council has received a petition requesting that a section of the Woodville Shopping Centre car park be reserved for Warringa Park School employees and other visitors to use free-of-charge.
The council will respond to the petition, which contained 198 signatures, at a public meeting to be held on February 22.
The petition was started by Barrie Hope, a local resident who works as a supervisor at the Warringa Park School crossing.
Mr Hope said that school staff and parents have used a section of the shopping centre’s car park for about 30 years, without any issues.
However he said that during 2021, the body corporate which owns the car park barricaded entry to the site with temporary fencing and signs – which have since been removed – threatening to tow away vehicles not belonging to shopping centre customers or gym members.
School staff were informed they could park at the site if they paid $8 per day.
Mr Hope said school staff usually used the far left side of the car park, leaving the area close to the shops free for truck deliveries, shoppers and gym users.
The petition has requested that Wyndham council intervene to keep this particular section of the car park free for the school and other visitors to the area, including nearby open space.
But Mr Hope said that since the 2022 school year resumed, the body corporate has emailed the school to inform them that cars owned by teachers and other staff will be towed.
“There is still no fence around the car park and no sign restricting parking,” Mr Hope said.
“Many teachers have put signs on their dashboards stating they are a customer of the shops frequenting them several times each day.”
The signs read: “I am a customer at Woodville Shopping Centre” and list the businesses the school staff shop at, including the centre’s bakery and grocery store.
Star Weekly contacted the company that manages the car park on behalf of the body corporate, asking if they would like to comment.
