Fines, patrols threat Safety fear sends cars onto grass

COUNCIL has threatened fines and increased patrols for residents parking on a grassed area to avoid accidents on Highton’s busy Leigh Rd.
Leigh Rd’s Dan Mathieson said several residents with multiple vehicles used the grassed area because of the speed and volume of traffic on the narrow road.
Mr Mathieson said he received two parking fines recently because council deemend the area a nature strip, despite a lack of driveways.
Council’s response to his complaint was to warn of fines for parking on nature strips and extending the hours of parking inspectors for the area to 9pm, he said.
Mr Mathieson asked council engineering staff to inspect the situation.
“The two council personnel agreed there’s an issue with the flow of traffic that prevents parking on both sides of the street. They also said approval has been given for further housing construction in the estate and traffic volumes will only increase.”
Mr Mathieson said he suggested council cut into the grassed area to create parking bays, with an interim measure of issuing nature strip parking permits.
Another Leigh Rd Resident, Karl Groves, said he struggled to find on-street parking when family or friends visited.
“The road is very unsafe due to the new volumes of traffic and the lack of width when cars park at the kerb.
“Hopefully we can get some quick resolution on this and have parking bays installed as soon as possible before we have a major accident with the new bus route and the continuous trucks, trade vehicles and cars speeding up our street.”
City of Greater Geelong community services general manager Jenny McMahon said parking officers went to the area several times following complaints from residents about vehicles parked on nature strips and the adjacent road reserve.
Ward councillor Ron Nelson said he understood the issues, with the crest of Leigh Rd presenting a blind spot and a nearby bus stop exacerbating the problem.
“Common sense would say residents should be able to park on the grass because it’is dangerous to park on the street at that point.
“I would look to make that option available to residents, probably through parking bays and appropriate signage, and I’ll speak with city officers about that.”