Wodonga Council to fine truck drivers parking in residential streets despite the lack of parking bays in the area
By Samantha Freestone | May 14, 2010
Wodonga Council is fining truck drivers who park on the side of the road despite there being a lack of heavy vehicle parking bays in the area.
A two-week blitz began this week after residents complained about the number of trucks parking in residential streets.
Drivers will be fined $77 for parking for more than one hour, and Wodonga Environment and Community Protection Manager Mark Verbaken says it is not council’s responsibility to build facilities for heavy vehicles.
“We would happily support private business in setting up a truck stop-type business in the area. We would happily help that private enterprise find a block of land and get going,” he says.
A Transport Workers Union (TWU) representative, Darryl Coghill, says the council should give truck drivers a place to park.
“I would say surely that if the council is going to fine trucks for parking on these roads then they need to look seriously at creating a public parking facility where driver can park safely and legally,” he says.
“This is not ground breaking stuff. My understanding is that the council at Narrabri on the Newell Highway is, along with our NSW branch, trying to encourage some sort of change over and parking bay at that location.”
Verbaken says the council is trying to make sure trucks do not park illegally while in Wodonga.
He says trucking operators will be encouraged to use their own depots.
“The real issue is that bigger trucking companies require their drivers to park in a depot. A lot of these trucks are from larger companies that have their own facilities…and we are trying to encourage them to use those facilities,” he says.
“We look after our roads but the issue we have is that our local roads are not designed for heavy freight and that would be the same for everywhere throughout the state.”