A Sydney woman says she has been left stressed and angry after being slapped with three ticketless parking fines in four days, totalling $960.

Kate Fumberger, who lives in the Western Sydney suburb of Box Hill, told 9news.com.au she was struggling to find parking near the Metro station at Tallawong last month when she noticed a street with a few spaces available.

“There were already a few cars parked on the street, which was just in a residential area with apartments,” Fumberger said.

After months of fighting it out to get a space within 10 minutes walk of Tallawong Metro station in the early mornings before work, Fumberger thought she was finally in luck.

“I looked around for ‘no parking’ signs on the road, and there was nothing,” she said.

Fumberger parked her car there on Monday, September 9, and on two other days that same week.

It wasn’t until about a week later that Fumberger got a parking ticket in the mail for $320.

Her offence – parking next to an unbroken yellow line.

Fumberger said she did not know that parking next to a continuous yellow line was illegal under NSW road rules.

“A lot of people I have spoken to said they didn’t know that’s a rule either, and there were no signs which made it more confusing,” Fumberger said. 

However, Fumberger said she was happy to acknowledge she was wrong in this case.

“I admit that’s my fault for not knowing it’s a rule,” she said.

What made Fumberger furious was the two other parking fines of $320 which swiftly followed in the mail.

“I was really hoping they’d show some leniency on the other two because I wouldn’t have made that same mistake if they had left an actual ticket on my car the first time,” she said.

Fumberger’s case comes a month after the Minns Government moved to ban ticketless parking fines in response to complaints from motorists that they were getting unfairly stung with multiple offences.

New laws forcing council rangers to issue physical tickets for parking fines were introduced to the NSW Legislative Council by Finance Minister Courtney Houssos on September 26.

However, the legislation is yet to be passed and ticketless parking fines therefore remain legal.

Under the proposed law, exceptions will be made if it is unsafe for a parking officer to leave a ticket. 

According to NSW Revenue figures, NSW councils raked in more than $158 million in revenue for ticketless parking in the 12 months to June 2024. 

The City of Sydney council issued the most ticketless fines, followed by Canterbury-Bankstown Council and then North Sydney Council.

Fumberger’s fine was issued by Blacktown Council.

A spokesperson for the council said in the vast majority of cases its rangers issued physical tickets.

Blacktown City Council’s enforcement team had looked into the three fines issued to Fumberger and they were issued correctly, the spokesperson said.

“Since 2013 Blacktown City has always issued tickets by placing them under vehicle windscreen wipers,” the spokesperson said.

“Please note that on some occasions a physical ticket is not issued for safety reasons. For example, instances of aggressive behaviour directed at Enforcement Officers.” 

NSW Revenue data, published by 9news.com.au in March, confirms Blacktown Council did not issue any ticketless parking fines in 2023.

Fumberger said while she was not left any tickets for her three fines she had noticed parking tickets on the windscreens of cars in the same street since then.

She has since lodged an appeal with NSW Revenue over her fines which was rejected. 

In a letter to Fumberger, NSW Revenue wrote that under NSW law a fine could be delivered by post or in person.

“The issuing officer may post a fine for a number of reasons, such as when it is not safe to stop or if a vehicle leaves the area before a fine can be issued,” NSW Revenue wrote.

Fumberger said having to pay almost $1000 in fines came as a heavy blow. 

“I have a mortgage and I’m a bit stressed having to pay it,” she said. 

“I was also just quite shocked by the fact that a parking fine is $320.

“I can understand speeding fines being a little bit more expensive, because you’re putting other people at risk, but this just feels like revenue raising.”

Fumberger said it was also frustrating the NSW Government had not provided adequate parking around Tallawong Metro station for commuters, and the lack of spaces had become even more fraught after the extended rail line opened in August.

Fumberger said was forced to drive to the station almost an hour earlier than she would normally need to in the morning, just to try to find a parking space.

Even then, the parking spaces she was finding were almost 10 minutes walk away.

Walking back to her car alone late at night did not feel safe, Fumberger said.

“It’s really annoying that they haven’t planned this better, and then that I’ve been given all these fines just for trying to park so I can get to work,” she said.

Source Credit: 9 News Sydney