A man’s seemingly thoughtful choice to park his vehicle on the grass beside a friend’s house has ignited a lively online discussion after he received a fine exceeding $100 for his actions.
In an attempt to be considerate, Maitland Hanley parked his van on the nature strip adjacent to the driveway during a visit to a friend in Logan last month. Faced with limited roadside parking, Hanley reasoned, “There’s not a lot of space on these roads for people to park, so I thought, you know what, I’ll just park up on the grass so I’m not in the way of anyone.”
After Hanley expressed his frustration on social media, the fine became a topic of public debate, although he ultimately decided to pay it. “It’s real 50-50 to be honest,” Hanley remarked, noting the mixed reactions. “Some people are rallying behind me, while others just say, ‘get on with it, get over it.’”
According to current legislation, a legally parked vehicle must remain within the property boundary, be oriented in the direction of travel, and have all wheels on the road.
“It’s real 50-50 to be honest, some people are like, they’re rallying behind me and then there’s the other 50 per cent that are like ‘get on with it, get over it’,” he said.
Legislation states a legally parked car must be within the property boundary, facing the direction of travel and have all wheels on the road.
There’s a bylaw for roads narrower than six metres specific to Logan City Council that allows nature strip parking if there’s still 1.2 metres of access.
”The weirdest part for me is I was only there for like an hour,” Hanley said.
“I hope that this can help in some way and some other people won’t be parking on nature strips anytime soon.”
Logan City Council said Hanley’s park was “in breach of parking rules issued under s 197(1) of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management – Road Rules) Regulation 2009, also known as Queensland Road Rules”.
“Council’s role is to uphold the State legislation and enforce parking laws in the City of Logan,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
“Nature strips and grass verges function as pedestrian thoroughfares and must remain clear to ensure safe access for all road users.”
