By CASEY NEILL
A NOBLE Park mechanic says unfair parking fines are driving away customers.
But the City of Greater Dandenong says it’s just clearing the way for pedestrians.
Speaking on behalf of Noble One Motors owner John Theodorou, Paul Rodrigues said parking inspectors were deliberately targeting the business and booking cars.
“It’s an easy target. With 10 or 15 cars in one spot, they can pick up one or two sticking over the footpath,” he said.
“They never book all the other cars that are illegally parked in Ian Street.
“He just can’t run his business.
“Every time a customer drives in, if they’re sticking over the footpath they get a fine.
“Customers don’t want to come back and get their car serviced here.
“John’s losing business because of the council.”
Mr Rodrigues said Mr Theorodou bought the Heatherton Road business about 18 months ago and it was in the past few months that the number of fines had increased.
He said the space between the ageing building and footpath was not long enough to accommodate modern cars.
“You can’t really fit cars perfectly against the wall,” he said.
“They hang about 10 centimetres over the footpath.
“But the whole footpath is a driveway. There’s still plenty of room for people to walk.
“There’s so much space yet they’re deliberately targeting this business.”
City of Greater Dandenong regulatory services manager Peter Shelton said council officers visited the Noble Park shopping precinct at least two to three times per week.
He said this was to ensure parking restrictions, access and safety concerns were adequately addressed.
“If officers find a higher than usual level of non-compliance in a particular location, they are expected to concentrate on that site until compliance improves,” Mr Shelton said.
“On many occasions in the past there have been instances of vehicle-based businesses – such as mechanics’ workshops and vehicle smash repair centres – creating problems in respect to on-street parking.”
He said such businesses were expected to comply with parking restrictions at all times and wherever possible, to store customer vehicles on their premises rather than on the street.
“When these businesses fail to do this they can have a negative impact on other local businesses who also rely on access to on-street parking for their customers,” Mr Shelton said.
“The council has an obligation to ensure that access to parking is equitable for all users and not any one particular group over another.
“Footpaths are for pedestrians and as such must be kept clear of all obstructions.”
