Opinion on parking infringement Gold coast Council

[hakuna]

The car and trailer were parked on the side of the road outside of the designated boat ramp as it was full, out of harms way and what we thought was legal, as where you would park a normal car only.

In the gold coast councils law, a boat and trailer parked outside a boat ramp greater than 7.5m long combined and there for more than 1 hour will get a $150 fine

now I reckon about 60 people got this fine on the Sunday

??

cheers

[Spaniard_King]

Well That sucks!!

All I can say is head down there when the carpark is full of trailer less cars and take photos .. send them in for a please explain?

[Chimo]

Hi hakuna

Did you actually talk the issue thru with the OIC parking Control?

According to LL2 the restricted lists as
restricted vehicle includes
(a) an agricultural implement; and
(b) an agricultural machine; and
(c) a bus; and
(d) a caravan; and
(e) an equipment trailer; and
(f) a heavy vehicle; and
(g) a long vehicle; and
(h) a motorised caravan; and
(i) a prime mover; and
(j) a semitrailer; and
(k) a tractor.

So if you disconnected your car from your trailer and parked the two would you have been booked?

Have you been in touch with your Councillor about this? If it were me I would have a talk / meeting with him / her or are you from beyond the GCCC boundaries?

Cheers
Chimo

PS I have had to speak to GCCC about policing the car park at the Sundale bridge viz the cars and buses without trailers cluttering up the area and had some success with this.

[murf]

that is just ridiculous, so you can't even have a box trailer?

my first thought as well was disconnect the trailer as the trailer is registered and has every right to be parked in a legal way

sounds like $$$$$$$$$ raising unless there is some other thing like a church or something that they want car parks kept for other uses

I would be doing some talking

cheers Murf

[Spot82]

Go to the media I reckon, GCCC is becoming a law unto its own on almost all matters and it is getting beyond a joke in all reality....

Anthony

[ahamay]

What ramp was this at ?

[indy]

I would be asking the council where they expect you to park when the boat ramp car park is full, as i no up at kawana way where i fish i sometimes have to park out of the boat ramp car park area as there isn't sufficent places for everyone.

[Captain Seaweed]

I recon as a guess it was the one at Charises

Marty

[finga]

I'd be going banana's.
The car is registered. The trailer is registered. What's the problem??

That sounds like a case discrimination against trailer owners.
What's the number for the anti-discrimination board??

Just another reason for me not to go to the Gold Coast I'm afraid. :(

[maztez]

No doubt it was at the Grand Hotel ramp ...There is always cars etc parked there by patrons of the Grand Pub ..It really makes me wonder about this council run by a mayor from Victoria who has really stuffed up everything for the Fisherman ...I would be taking this to the media as well as the council ...
good luck with it ...

[hakuna]

Hi hakuna

Did you actually talk the issue thru with the OIC parking Control?

According to LL2 the restricted lists as
restricted vehicle includes
(a) an agricultural implement; and
(b) an agricultural machine; and
(c) a bus; and
(d) a caravan; and
(e) an equipment trailer; and
(f) a heavy vehicle; and
(g) a long vehicle; and
(h) a motorised caravan; and
(i) a prime mover; and
(j) a semitrailer; and
(k) a tractor.

So if you disconnected your car from your trailer and parked the two would you have been booked?

Have you been in touch with your Councillor about this? If it were me I would have a talk / meeting with him / her or are you from beyond the GCCC boundaries?

Cheers
Chimo

PS I have had to speak to GCCC about policing the car park at the Sundale bridge viz the cars and buses without trailers cluttering up the area and had some success with this.




It was a mate booked, not me, I was interested in others thoughts, I suggested he take it to court as it is the deepwater ramp involved and I have lobbied for years now as all the patrons of the pub and the seafood place next to it park in the boat ramp and dont get booked.
Council answer always not to upset the patrons for the pub and food outlet ( a bit sus eh)

cheers

[cormorant]

Bluntly - they are full of it. I have been through this with another council in NSW with regards to a toyota coaster bus. I specifically shortened the tow hitch so vehicle was under 7.5m and I could leave bike rack adaptor on.

Take photos of every one of their delta tippers with a plant trailer and they are all illegally parked every where they go. They are kidding.

Couple of questions

Is your tow vehicle a commercial vehicle?

Reason I ask is that I understood those rules to apply to commercial vehicles.

Was there specific signs in regards to vehicle mass, length or residential parking control?

The other thing is that the 7.5m limit only applies in regards to marked parking spaces I understood. It can also apply in residential areas to stop big rigs standing overnight in backstreets not in a depot or truckstop.

Last one it was never a combined vehicle length unless it is a articulated vehicle. Doesn't apply to car and trailer.

Please ask them for a exact measurement they took of your vehicle.

If you want to persue it you could take the angle of asking them to supply you with a letter from the standards measurements office with which they should have had tagged / certification any measuring device with which they can show it is a true and accurate measure. They won't have one. Magistrates dont like people who issue fines using estimates of length and equipment that is not certified. I guarantee they didn't

When it comes down to it a lot of bylaws councils implement are not actually legal so if you had pockets of money and patience with lots of research you could probably squash all their rules. Goodluck trying.

[SgBFish]

That is what happens when you have a stupid council, enacting stupid by-laws, which are interpreted by stupid parking inspectors who would not have the brains that God gave of a grasshopper when it comes to discretion.

[Scott nthQld]

We have the same problem locally. Trailer parking fills up so people park elsewhere. Said people get fines. It's gotten that bad lately and the council has that much publicity over it that a quick email with a copy of the fine and it goes away now.

My advice is take time and date stamped photo's of the full carpark making sure to include any individual vehicles parked in the trailer bays without a trailer. Show these photo's to the council and show them your rego and rates notices. YOU pay for the parking bays and are entitled to them, do this enough, report it to the paper via letters to the ed or to a sympathetic writer (no such thing as a journo anymore) and with a bit of publicity you still get the fines but usually there is one or two councillors who will 'take up the cause' and a quick email to them will see the fine dissappear.

[Captain Seaweed]

I cant believe it, if one of thos blokes wants to hand me a ticket for using my boat at a ramp he had better know how to run and jump hurdles cos I will tow my boat through fences to get him. Cheeky little buggers. If it was clearly stated as to what you can and cant do fair enough but this one makes not sense.

[no chicken tonight]

To be fair, i have seen cars with no trailers in trailer only spots get fines. Also I got a fine when i parked my car/trailer on the street. It is a very popular ramp and fills quickly on weekends.
The problem is the same days are peak times for all the pubs, cafes, resturants etc.
I think they have done the best they could by having car only or trailer only parking.
Do as i did, either go fishing really early (4am) or use a less popular ramp on weekends.
Just my opinion.

[marty666]

To be fair, i have seen cars with no trailers in trailer only spots get fines. Also I got a fine when i parked my car/trailer on the street. It is a very popular ramp and fills quickly on weekends.
The problem is the same days are peak times for all the pubs, cafes, resturants etc.
I think they have done the best they could by having car only or trailer only parking.
Do as i did, either go fishing really early (4am) or use a less popular ramp on weekends.
Just my opinion.


It shouldn't by like that the trailer parking is there for a reason and if it is filled with people who are going to be drink driving fine them when the trailers over flow

[hakuna]

What ramp was this at ?

Grand Hotel, charris, every weekend cars and trailers park outside the boat ramp, council must make a killing

cheers

[maztez]

Just came back from the Grand ramp and there were 11 cars parked in the boat trailer spots ...no sign of any parking inspectors ...a rule for some and different rules for others ..

[ahamay]

Just came back from the Grand ramp and there were 11 cars parked in the boat trailer spots ...no sign of any parking inspectors ...a rule for some and different rules for others ..

Had lunch at The Grand yesterday and saw the same deal. Cars in trailer parks especially up the Charris end.

[Chimo]

Hi Guys

So to help educate trailerless cars about the errors of their ways ring GCCC 1300 694 222 ask for parking and ask them to deal with the issue. Good oportunity to also ask about the street booking given there was no space in the boat trailer park and this is the reason.

C
C

[Angla]

I have been through this and no matter what the letter is or says they will dispute it and say they are within their rights, bla, bla, bla. Thjs will be after the due date and will also say they must have the money within about 5 days from when you receive the answer. They also say they will not enter into any further correspondence and that the magistrate is the one to grieve to when the court date comes up.

My Mrs then badgered me to just pay the bastards.

Mine was the Labrador ramp area and I moved 2 streets away where there were no parking restriction signs at all. They fine you on the local GCCC laws

Good luck with it as their system is designed to intimidate you in to paying.

Unhooking the trailer is a bloody good idea I reckon.

Cheers
Chris

[finga]

Hi Guys

So to help educate trailerless cars about the errors of their ways ring GCCC 1300 694 222 ask for parking and ask them to deal with the issue. Good oportunity to also ask about the street booking given there was no space in the boat trailer park and this is the reason.

C
C
And then the cars will say they couldn't park on the street because of all the boat trailers. :-?
Never ending cycle I'm afraid Peter.

[cormorant]

I have been through this and no matter what the letter is or says they will dispute it and say they are within their rights, bla, bla, bla. Thjs will be after the due date and will also say they must have the money within about 5 days from when you receive the answer. They also say they will not enter into any further correspondence and that the magistrate is the one to grieve to when the court date comes up.

My Mrs then badgered me to just pay the bastards.

Mine was the Labrador ramp area and I moved 2 streets away where there were no parking restriction signs at all. They fine you on the local GCCC laws

Good luck with it as their system is designed to intimidate you in to paying.

Unhooking the trailer is a bloody good idea I reckon.

Cheers
Chris



Unhook teh trailer - I'd be checking if your trailer is insured for theft if you do that. Some companies are getting really tough on trailers left not locked and on private property

[Giffo65]

Mate, I got booked in Surfers, in an Emergency Services vehicle,WTF.Those GCCC parking Nazis are ,well, can't really say here .