ALTHOUGH only partway into the financial year, Bathurst is already well ahead of where it normally is for parking infringements.
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Data currently available through Revenue NSW shows that a total of 823 penalty infringement notices for parking offences were issued over the four month period between July and October 2018.
That number is 140 more than were issued during the same period in the 2017-18 financial year, equating to an additional $32,367 in revenue from fines.
November and December data is currently unavailable.
In the first four months of the last financial year, there was only one month that exceeded 200 fines, however this year there were three.
August, September and October saw 212, 232 and 200 infringement notices issued respectively.
July had 179 infringement notices, which was down from 221 in the previous year.
Bathurst Regional Council’s revenue from parking fines has increased since the mobile parking enforcement vehicle was introduced in March, 2014.
From the 2014-15 financial year, the number of fines issued in the first four months has steadily increased, going from 594, to 645, to 670, to 673 and now 823 in 2018-19.
The amount of revenue collected has jumped from $83,175 to $117,029.
Councillor Warren Aubin said the parking car was definitely making a difference, as it was more efficient and less visible than a ranger on foot.
It was expected that more fines would be issued after the introduction of the car, however they’ve shown no signs of decreasing despite people knowing the vehicle is on patrol.
Cr Aubin said people just weren’t paying attention to the signs around them and taking note of how long they could stay in one spot for, however they had no reason to complain.
“People whinge about parking in the CBD, saying there aren’t enough parking spaces,” he said.
“The idea of the camera car going around and enforcing parking restrictions is that it keeps parking turning over.”
