Mum fined £100 for parking on her OWN driveway even though she wasn’t blocking a footpath as council issues bizarre map
A MUM is prepared to take on her local council after being left furious at receiving a £100 fine for parking on her own driveway.
Gold Coast City officers alleged that Megan Pass was blocking other vehicles from accessing council land at her Pimpana property in Australia.
The mother of three wasn’t even blocking a footpath – it was preventing the use of the bottom of her driveway for other people that came to be the problem.
And what left the Aussie more outraged was how she’d never encountered any previous issues when parking in the exact same way for the last seven years.
“I got a lovely fine from Gold Coast City Council for parking in my own driveway,” she told 7NEWS.
“This doesn’t make sense.
“Everybody I’ve shared this with is going, ‘What the hell?’”
Ms Pass has now accused the penalty notice as revenue raising by the council.
She is adamant that she’s done nothing wrong and “would’ve understood” if she was parking across a footpath.
But mayor Tom Tate is refusing to back down on the situation, stating the rules are clear.
He told 7News: “The driveway is actually on council land.
“It’s a safety issue … that’s why they’ve issued it, and it’s part of the local law.”
He went on to suggest that drivers should “park in the street or inside the house” instead.
But Ms Pass claims that she parks at the bottom of her driveway because the steepness at the top causes the car’s seat belts to lock.
Not only does it make it difficult for her to get into the car, but also for her three children.
“The car’s at the start of my steep driveway. I always park there because you can’t buckle-up on the angle,” she told Daily Mail Australia.
Ms Pass then slammed mayor Tate’s street parking suggestion and noted that parking her car on the street could obstruct emergency vehicles.
“The law is apparently in case emergency vehicles can’t get through the street, why we are being asked to park in them and make it harder for emergency services to use the roads?” she said.
“I’d also like to confirm whether that means no one can park in their driveway, past the letter box, and we just can’t use them at all.”
A bizarre map issued by the council explains how a resident’s driveway ends at their boundary line, while the rest of the driveway is considered a “vehicle crossing'” under their ownership.
“Any vehicle parking within the driveway on public land between the private property boundary and the kerb is committing an offence,” a spokesperson from the City of Gold Coast Council told Daily Mail Australia.
The council website states that drivers “must not stop for more than two minutes across a driveway or across any other access for vehicles”.
But Ms Pass went on to explain how it would take more than two minutes to buckle her children’s seat belts at the road-end, even if she were to park at the house-end of her driveway.
“So apparently this law means anyone, residents/tradespeople/delivery drivers, can only stop for two minutes… Where is the common sense?” she said.
“[All our neighbours] have extremely steep driveways. If I park up the top I’d have to drive down to the flat to be able to buckle up.
“My kids take longer than two minutes to buckle. So apparently I can be fined for that too?”
Ms Pass is also concerned that when guests stay over, they are also at risk of being fined.
She has now urged councils to better inform residents if they’re going to enforce the rule.
“It’s one thing to have a law, it’s another to not make sure people are aware and give warnings when you know full well it’s not advertised.
“If it’s a parking rule, maybe there should be a sign.”
Earlier this year, another mum was slapped with a £60 parking fine for overstaying by 12 minutes while she was giving birth.
Australian couple Carly Earl and Greg Mullins left their car parked at the hospital before rushing to the delivery room.
And one driver was left fuming after being being handed a £400 fine because of a “ludicrously over the top” rule.
Damian Seagar had been leaving his cars on the street near his Sydney home for around eight years until a parking ticket dropped through his letter box.