Woman ‘targeted’ by council in affluent Aussie suburb over pushbike parking
The woman has now had two separate seizure notices for parking her bike in the area.
A woman who went viral after her local council slapped her with a seizure notice for parking her bike on the side of her suburban street is once again in hot water with the same council and says she's feeling 'targeted'.
Natasha Usmar's bike saga took a turn for the worse on Friday after North Sydney Council hit her with another seizure notice despite her bike now being parked at a designated bicycle rack.
"I just feel like that's just ridiculous because they specifically told me to put it in a proper bike rack," she told Yahoo News Australia.
Usmar had her first run-in with her local council on November 16 after venting on TikTok about the notice she received for tying her bicycle to "North Sydney Council property".
She had said that despite the numerous car spots available at Folly Point in Cammeray, there are no bicycle racks in the area, and therefore no parking for her. "You have to tie it up somewhere," she reasoned.
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Moved onto boat during cost-of-living crisis
Usmar, who is a performer, has been living with her partner on his boat in a Cammeray marina since January after not being able to "keep up" with the cost of renting her own place. "With the way housing and stuff is going, we'd love to rent somewhere but we just haven't been able to do that," she said. "With the cost of living and the housing crisis that's kind of our situation for now".
The two are staying on the boat to save on costs so they can eventually afford a two-bedroom rental, as well as pay off debts and save for a second-hand car for Usmar. "I'm saving up to get a secondhand car but everything is just really expensive these days".
There are still costs involved with legally mooring at a marina like this, she says. Costs include around $590 a month to rent the mooring, about $130 a month for insurance and $380 for a storage unit to hold her furniture and bits that don't fit on the boat.
Couple feel like they're being 'targeted'
After receiving the first notice Usmar shared that the council had said they were looking into installing a bicycle rack in Foley Point, which is much closer to the only other nearby one 20 minutes away — one she has been using in the meantime.
Less than two weeks after parking her bike in the far away rack as requested, Usmar received a second seizure notice cable tied to her bike. "I went to the café today and was like 'I can't believe there's another seizure notice'," she said.
Following this second notice, Usmar says it feels almost like it's intentional. "I do feel like we're a little bit targeted," she explained.
Under the Public Spaces (Unattended Property) Act 2021, registered vehicles are permitted to stay parked in one spot for 28 days so long as they are parked in line with NSW road rules. For class 1 items, such as a bike, it only needs to be there for seven days before it can be classed as an unattended item.
Yahoo News Australia has reached out to North Sydney Council for comment.
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