By Brendan Rees
Furious residents who copped hefty parking fines at Willow Glen Boulevard in Cranbourne West are now in line for a refund.
Sophie Lang was one of the motorists who was hit with a $159 fine for parking on the nature strip on Thursday 2 August.
She says she had returned to her partner’s home Willow Glen Boulevard in the evening to discover that “almost all of the cars” in the residential street had been slapped with parking fines at 8.33pm.
She said it was nightmare trying to find a car park in the “tiny road” where hundreds of people packed the new housing estate.
“The problem here is; the majority of the street is a no standing zone,” she said.
“This just shows that they don’t care about their communities and their needs, they just want money.”
“It’s absolutely disgraceful that tenants in these areas can’t even have friends or family members visit them without getting a $159 fine slapped on their windscreen,” she said.
Following a visit to Willow Glen Boulevard, Casey Council has apologised and launched a “review of parking arrangements in the street to see how we can address resident’s concerns.”
“While the review is conducted, council will withdraw all infringements issued in the street,” said City of Casey spokesman Gerard Scholten.
“Council responded to complaints from neighbours of cars blocking the footpath and nature strips restricting access for waste contractors on their weekly run.”
Council advised a large overflow carpark was available for all residents and visitors at the entrance to the street.
Ms Lang said she was relieved her fine would be waived after receiving an email from council on Monday 27 August: “I’m really happy – I didn’t think it would happen.”
After voicing her angst to Nine Network’s A Current Affair who also aired her story last week, Ms Lang said “It shows the media really does help.”
But she argued “How does the council approve this project in the first place?”
“If a certain amount of people live in such high density living, there should be laws/regulations put in place to ensure that the roads are wide enough for two cars to get through as well as have enough space for people to park on the side of the road,” she said.
Casey Council says the developer took maximum advantage of what was allowable under the Victorian Government planning controls.
