Outrage as council fines residents for parking in their own driveways
Exclusive: Residents in the New South Wales Hunter Valley region are up in arms at their local council after copping fines for parking in their own driveways.
Cliftleigh Meadows is a luxury housing estate of around 1000 properties and was recently completed in 2022.
Residents in the Cliftleigh Meadows estate are being fined for parking in their own driveways. James Keysell
It was marketed by property developers as “the perfect combination of community values and modern living”.
However, residents living in the estate say poorly designed, narrow roads and overzealous parking rangers have since proved to be a massive headache.
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James Keysell told nine.com.au he moved into his house in Cliftleigh Meadows about two years ago.
Since then, he has been fined three times for parking in his own driveway.
Two of those fines were issued a fortnight ago when he was helping his father move house.
“I have a concrete driveway that leads up to my garage,” Keysell said.
“For the past few weeks, I’ve had a trailer backed up to my garage, which is on my land. And I had my car parked in front of the trailer, which is still on my driveway.”
Keysell was issued with a $330 fine two days in a row, a move he believes is unfair as he was parked in his own driveway.
“It’s absolutely disgusting and revenue-raising at its finest,” he said.
“I just assumed being a concrete driveway, it’s all my driveway.
After complaining to Cessnock City Council, Keysell said he was told “anything past the letterbox is classed as council land”.
In NSW, the land between the front of a property and the road, which usually includes the nature strip and footpath, is publicly owned and managed by local councils.
Under NSW legislation, a driver must not park on a nature strip adjacent to a road.
Many Cliftleigh Meadows residents say they have been caught out by the little-known road rule.
Adding to the confusion, Cliftleigh Gardens has no footpaths to help provide a visual demarcation between property boundaries and the nature strip.
Resident Kaicy Rolfe’s husband has been fined twice, with the couple receiving their first fine on the day they moved in around 18 months ago.
The first fine Rolfe’s husband received was for parking on the edge of the gutter and grass.
The second fine was parking in their driveway, with the rear of the car extending about a metre past the letterbox.
This photo from Cliftleigh Meadows resident Kaicy Rolfe shows her and her husband’s cars parked in their driveway, as they were when the fine was issued. Kaicy Rolfe
Rolfe said she was shocked by the fines, especially the one for parking in their driveway.
“Cessnock Council is a joke … isn’t that the point of a driveway?” she said, adding she had never heard of the rule.
Rolfe said the streets in the estate were so narrow that people needed to park in their driveways, or sometimes on the verge, to avoid blocking the road.
“It’s actually quite dangerous to navigate driving around the estate when everyone is home and parked on the road because it limits the streets to a single lane,” she said.
Keysell agreed that the roads were poorly designed.
“I thought I was doing the right thing by getting my car off the street as much as I could, and then I got these fines over it,” he said.
Residents of Cliftleigh Meadows say the streets are too narrow and parking on the road can block traffic. James Keysell
Residents have taken to posting warnings in the local community Facebook group of when a council ranger is in the estate handing out fines.
A spokesperson for Cessnock City Council said road users needed to follow the NSW Road Rules at all times.
“As the relevant enforcement agency for parking on local and regional roads within the Cessnock LGA, Cessnock City Council issues infringement notices where there are breaches to the road rules,” the spokesperson said.
“Individuals who have received an infringement notice are able to appeal the determination through an independent third party if they believe an error has been made in the enforcement of the rules.”
However, residents are calling for council to do more than simply throw the book at them.
One local resident, Ashley Holmes has started an online Change.org petition imploring the council to fix the mess.
Holmes told nine.com.au the behaviour of the parking rangers was bordering on “harassment”.
“The design of Cliftleigh Estate’s streets has led to numerous instances where parked vehicles inadvertently violate ambiguous parking regulations,” she writes in the petition, which has collected more than 200 signatures from residents.
“The narrow width of many streets, lack of clearly designated parking zones, and inadequate signage contribute to the confusion.
“As a consequence, residents are being penalised for circumstances beyond their control, receiving fines that are not only unjust but also preventable.”
One resident, Isabella, commented on the petition that she had been stung by the ranger multiple times.
“I have received three separate fines in the time I have lived here,” she wrote.
“One was for parking on my lawn, another for having my car one week out of rego, and another for parking at the bottom of the driveway. I find this ridiculous.”
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