Hayden Strickland does not know what to do now that he cannot park his truck on his property.
By Sarah Schwager
A HAMPTON Park family feels forced to move house after being told they would be fined if they park their truck, the family’s livelihood, on their property.
Hayden Strickland and his wife, Adriana, said they felt they had no other choice but to move because they had found it impossible to find anywhere to park the heavy commercial vehicle.
“There is a lot of useable space at our place,” he said.
“Every house has parked their car on the nature strip. I think council has gone overboard with this.”
They were told they would receive a $2000 fine if any vehicle crossed over the path to their large property.
Mr Strickland, who runs a transport company, said the issue was not that the truck hung over the footpath but that he had to drive the truck across the nature strip to get to the property.
The family is in the process of applying for a permit to build a driveway but in the meantime needs to drive over the footpath.
Mr Strickland said now he had to find a spot streets away and was fed up.
“I have already told council I am more than happy to pay for any damage done to the footpath,” he said.
They will now relocate to a unit owned by Mrs Strickland in Doveton.
City of Casey administration acting manager Jarrod Doake said the council was first made aware of the situation by other residents complaining about the broken footpath outside the property.
“Upon investigation it was found that the residents were driving a very large truck across the footpath to park a truck in their property,” he said.
“This behaviour was not only destroying the nature strip but was also breaking up the footpath causing costly damage to the footpath as well as creating a potential hazard to pedestrians.
“Council is continuing to work with the residents to achieve a positive outcome.”
Mrs Strickland said she could not bear seeing her husband suffer after working 12 to 15 hour days.
“He has to look everywhere to park the truck. It’s not fair that he has to walk. I end up having to follow him and pick him up to bring him back to the house,” she said.
