Woman battles Aussie council over parking sign 'with word in the wrong place'
The Sydney council has agreed to cancel the woman's fine and review others.
A council has agreed to cancel a woman’s fine after she complained about a parking sign “with a word in the wrong place” confusing locals.
The sign posted by Canada Bay Council at Cabarita Park in Sydney displays a green P with two separate messages underneath, the first part reading “vehicles with trailer”. Under a gap it states “only Sat, Sun and public holidays”.
Local woman Jane told 2GB on Wednesday when she first saw the sign she assumed it meant that vehicles with a trailer were only allowed to park in the designated area on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays.
However, after copping a fine, she said she was informed by the council the sign actually means only vehicles with a trailer are allowed to park there and only on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays meaning that the word 'only' was printed on the wrong line.
“I'm not alone. And I'd like not only for me not to have to pay my fine, but I'd also like them to reverse everyone else’s fine,” she told breakfast show host Ben Fordham, adding that she had contacted the council to no avail and was “quite happy to take this to court”.
Council admits to printing error on parking sign
Canada Bay Council told Yahoo News Australia on Thursday the new signage was installed after the community requested “a small number of specific spaces for cars with trailers on weekends and public holidays”.
“Unfortunately, the signs that were installed contained a printing error that was not picked up by our team on review,” General Manager John Clark said. “The error led to confusion and has resulted in some members of our community receiving fines.”
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Clark said he had since contacted Jane to apologise and “ensured her that the fine is being cancelled”. “I’d like to apologise to our residents for the confusion caused by this signage in Cabarita Park, and for the poor customer service the resident experienced,” he continued, explaining that “all other fines for those car spaces since the installation of the new signs a few weeks ago” are under review.
“The signs have been covered, and new replacement signs are in production,” Clark said. “I’d also like to thank this resident for bringing her experience to our attention – we are always looking to create a better customer experience for our community and in this instance, we let the resident down.”
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