Parking pressure

By Melissa Grant
CIVIC leaders have vowed to look into the parking woes of McGregor Road, Pakenham, residents and have waived 12 fines issued to them in recent weeks.
As reported in the News last month, those living in the service road said they were unfairly being slapped with fines for parking on their nature strips because they had no alternative.
On Monday night, councillors resolved to investigate the issue but warned residents to stop parking on nature strips until a solution was found.
“Council officers will look into what other councils are doing in relation to parking on nature strips,” councillor Brett Owen said.
“We do have some concerns – it’s definitely a difficult one, there’s no easy solutions.”
McGregor Road resident Kellie Knight was happy that 12 fines had been set aside, saving residents a total of $792.
“It’s good they’ve waived fines – not that I have been fined, but it’s good for the ones who have been,” she said.
Cr Owen said the McGregor Road service lane was 4.4 metres wide – within industry standards at the time of construction.
In 2006, councillors increased the standard to 5.4 metres, he said.
Councillor Bill Pearson said McGregor Road would be changed from two lanes to four in the near future, leaving no room for widening on the side of the service lane.
He urged McGregor Road residents to be considerate to their neighbours and not park on nature strips while civic leaders solved the problem.
“We will waive the fines but in future if you break the laws that apply we can’t do anything for you,” Cr Pearson said.
Mrs Knight said she was satisfied by the councillors’ course of action.
“It’s going well so far. More needs to be done but I think councillors have realised that there is a problem,” she said. “It sounds like they have a few ideas and they’re looking for solutions.”