Hi all, looking for insight on a dispute I’m having with one of the Melbourne local councils. I parked my car in a 2 hour zone on the side of a street near work. After 2 hours I returned to my car and noticed there was a chalk mark on one of my tyres made by one of the parking inspectors to note what time I was parked there at. I drove my car a short distance away and parked in a car park within a 3 hour parking zone. I didn’t check to see if the chalk mark had worn off the tire because it was raining and I was in a rush to get inside. When I returned to my car after 3 hours, I noticed I had been issued a fine approx. 2 hrs after I had parked my car, even though it’s a 3 hour zone. I realised the mark from when I had parked in the 2 hour zone hadn’t worn off the tire when I moved my car, and so the inspector erroneously thought my car had been marked within the 3 hour zone and I had overstayed.
I appealed the fine pointing out there were patches of the mark that had worn away in their picture of my car, plus there was dirt/debris visible over the mark indicating it had been driven on. I didn’t have any other proof of the time I entered the car park, however. Unfortunately the council has denied my appeal, they acknowledge the dirt over the mark indicated the car had moved but that because it was raining that day if I had moved my car a sufficient distance the chalk should have come off completely? I think they think I moved my car within the 3 hour car park and not between the two different parking zones.
My only options now are to pay the fine or appeal in court. It’s not a lot of money but I am willing to go to court over it on principle, because I am 100% certain I am in the right. Just wondering what people think my chances are of winning? I feel like the onus should be on the council to prove I didn’t get the mark from a different area, and they should change their system if it’s possible to lead to errors like this (take photos of cars after marking and when rechecking, or use different colour chalk in different areas perhaps?). I don’t mind taking a day off work to attend court if needed but what’s the worst outcome if lose? I’ll just have to pay the fine or could there be additional fines/penalties?
Someone get Dennis Denuto!