Aussie council called in over 'makeshift' no parking sign: 'Not legal'
A nurse was attempting to visit a patient when two men stopped her and claimed she couldn't park on the street.
A Sydney resident has blasted the behaviour of a children's holiday care centre as "idiotic", saying it tried to enforce its own parking restrictions on a street which is "already hard enough" to find a park on.
Understandably, the fake "no parking" sign did not go down well with the local motorist.
On Tuesday, nurse Effie was attempting to park in Bexley, a suburb situated in the city's south, when she spotted a makeshift sign which read: 'No parking please!!! Children let down & pick up.'
The hand drawn "no parking" sign had been made by a holiday program ran at Bexley Gospel Hall during the school holidays. Effie said she was told she could not use the street parking despite heading to work in the area – forcing her to appeal to the local council to do something.
"I'm a community registered nurse in a clearly marked work car and had my uniform on," Effie told Yahoo News Australia. "I told them I was going to a client and wouldn’t be long as I had a service to do, and they still continued", urging her to move the vehicle.
"I stood my ground and pointed to the sign that said I could park there.
"That street is hard for parking most days as it is," she said, adding that she decided to leave her car in the contentious spot despite protestations.
Bayside Council respond to 'not enforceable' sign
After the ordeal Effie contacted Bayside Council to notify them of the holiday program enforcing the fake parking restrictions, sending a photo of the whiteboard sign.
"This is happening at Bexley Gospel hall," the email read. "[I was] confronted by the two men in the photo telling me I couldn’t park there. I said I can and they can’t legally stop me and that I’m going to be half an hour. They continued to argue but I ignored them. I came back to the car and saw the sign as well.
"Hopefully you can deal with this."
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Bayside Council confirmed to Yahoo they were notified of the sign and were quick to assure that it was "not enforceable" by the holiday program.
"The makeshift parking sign has not been installed or authorised by Council and is not legal or enforceable," a spokesperson said.
Holiday program says it was a request to help the kids
A representative from the Bexley Gospel Hall holiday program said they "weren't enforcing anything", but instead communicated a "gentle request" for locals to not use the parking outside the community church.
"We just wanted to keep that little spot free because kids are at risk," Thomas from the holiday program told Yahoo News. "We all struggle to park on the road, don't blame one spot [being] taken away.
"Just as she is dealing with an older person we are looking after kids... We all care for the community."
Thomas confirmed the sign in question has now been taken down, however, it is unclear who removed it.
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