NEWS INTERNATIONAL NEWS FROMmeter
Parking is changing all over the world as councils realise it is an activity that is integral to the local community. Trish Wilson gives an overview from Down Under
servants L
ike their British counterparts, Australian parking operators realise that parking is a means to an end, rather than an end in itself and every vehicle journey we make starts and ends with a parking activity.
Since 2002, local councils in Australia have been charged with the responsibility of enforcing ‘on-road’ parking legislation and regulations made under a combination of the Australian Road Rules (1999) and the Road Traffi c Act of 1961, and applying appropriate ‘parking controls’.
The guiding principles are in relation to safety of road users, management of traffi c fl ow and provision of equitable access to available parking in business, urban, residential and high demand areas. Sharing of the limited available road space applies also to the provision of bus stops and taxi stands, to assist road users with limited transport options and loading zones, in areas with regular demand for loading and unloading goods.
Striking a balance
In commercial areas, parking for customers and clients is deemed a priority, making the most sought-after parking spaces available to the greatest number of users by graduated use of time limits and charges. In residential areas – in particular those
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close to city centres, transport hubs, education facilities and shopping centres where residents do not have access to off-street parking – resident parking permit schemes may be set up. Councils are responsible for the assessment, implementation and review of such schemes, ensuring that they achieve a balance between residents and other users. With the delegation of parking enforcements to councils, and – as a result of media articles raising the issue of increases in revenue received by councils from parking tickets – combined with a negative public perception of the enforcement and level of fi nes, reviews have been instigated in several states.
Revenue raisers
There is a perception that councils use parking enforcement primarily as a revenue raising tool. There is limited understanding of both the regulatory obligation to enforce parking- related legislation, and the effect of internal and external factors on enforcement powers. Internal factors include the number of parking meters and enforcement offi cers, and use of digital technology. While external factors take account of the rise in the value of penalties and the introduction of new offences since July 2011. In Promoting Better Practice (PBP) to councils in New South Wales, a review concluded that there should be: Publically available, comprehensive, written policies on parking enforcement
An accessible process for reviewing infringements
Development and training for enforcement offi cers to educate the public about their role
Information on how revenue is used All of which is a far cry from the gold lamé bikini-wearing Surfers Paradise Meter Maids introduced to the Queensland tourist destination in 1965. These early ‘traffi c wardens’ were armed with a bag of coins; they topped up expired meters leaving a note on the windscreen to say ‘You have just been saved from a parking fi ne by the Surfers Paradise Meter Maids’.
12
MARCH 2013
www.britishparking.co.uk
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