Three Hunter councils raked in more than $4.7 million from parking fines last year as road usage rose post-pandemic.
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Drivers across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Port Stephens were stung almost 30,000 times in 2022 in the first year free from COVID-19 lockdowns since 2019.
The recent busy summer period provided a major source of infringement income for the councils as motorists ventured out to make the most of coastline and shopping areas.
While fines may be a bane for road users, councils say parking compliance supports local businesses by allowing greater turnover of visitors in busy areas.
Newcastle Herald approached four Hunter councils for the same data and information on parking fines in each local government area. Here is what they provided:
NEWCASTLE
In Newcastle a whopping 17,382 parking related penalty notices were issued last year.
This brought in $2,556,979 in revenue for the city.
Disobeying 'no stopping' signs, parking continuously for longer than indicated and failure to pay user-pays parking fees are among the most common infractions across the Newcastle LGA.
Since the start of summer 2,288 parking related fines have been issued by council, to a total of $336,600.
"City of Newcastle and its team of parking officers work to educate and ensure compliant parking across the LGA for the safety of road users and the community, and to allow road users access to parking equitably in busy areas in support of local businesses," a council spokesperson said.
LAKE MACQUARIE
Last year Lake Macquarie council made $1.95 million in parking fine revenue.
Despite the large figure, manager of environmental regulation and compliance Derek Poulton has described the council's approach to parking enforcement as "conservative".
"Enforcement is not in any way a matter of simple revenue-raising," he said.
"It is aimed at ensuring fair and safe use of public parking spaces across the city, adequate parking turnover for shoppers and business owners, and safe access to homes, schools and businesses."
While council handed out more than 10,500 fines in 2022, rangers also issued 1358 cautions. The number of fines was "up significantly" from the previous year, but Mr Poulton said the pandemic and a return to normal living was a major factor.
Also up by 16 per cent was the number of parking complaints the council received - nearly 2000 last year.
"The summer months remain the busiest with respect to complaints received and non-compliant parking," he said.
"During summer, we generally see an increase in non-compliance in commercial retail areas, around the beaches and in particular at boat ramps."
Among the areas where parking infringements were most common were Charlestown, Toronto and Belmont CBDs.
"Business owners request our presence to help with vehicle turnover," Mr Poulton said.
"The feedback we receive from businesses is that customers won't visit if there is not enough parking - they'll simply shop elsewhere."
The feedback we receive from businesses is that customers won't visit if there is not enough parking - they'll simply shop elsewhere.
- Lake Macquarie council manager of environmental regulation and compliance Derek Poulton
The three most enforced offences in Lake Macquarie were: park vehicle for longer than permitted, disobey no stopping sign and disobey no parking sign.
PORT STEPHENS
For Port Stephens parking rangers the summer holiday period, when the region sees an influx of tourists, is the busiest time of the year.
Since the beginning of December, up until January 19, there were 768 parking fines issues in the Port Stephens LGA.
This figure makes up the lion's share of fines for the council, especially when compared to the total fines issued in the whole of 2022 which was 1824 tickets.
"We've found that the busy time for parking offences and subsequent increase in parking fines are during the school holiday periods," senior ranger Andrew McAdam said.
"When there's an influx of people during the holiday periods, we observe 'parking fine hot spots'.
"These 'hot spots' can vary greatly due to a number of circumstances, weather, time of year and the COVID-19 pandemic. At the moment, our 'hotspots' are the Nelson Bay CBD area and adjacent Victoria Parade, the Shoal Bay foreshore on Shoal Bay Road, Shoal Bay and Birubi Beach on James Patterson Road, Anna Bay.
"Another area of note is the number of boat ramps in the area and the associated restricted parking for boat trailers only."
Last year Port Stephens Council collected $283,000 from parking fines, which was slightly up on the 2021 revenue reported at $278,000.
The three most common parking offences were: park continuously for longer than indicated, stop in restricted parking area and disobey no stopping sign.
MAITLAND
Newcastle Herald contacted Maitland City Council with a request for information, but did not receive a response.
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