A Brisbane dog owner has slammed the city council as “greedy” after receiving a $345 fine for parking his car on the grass during a 40-minute walk.
Stephen Allthorpe, 63, takes his dog Freddie for a walk at a park on Brisbane’s northside every Sunday, but a stroll earlier this month has now turned into a nightmare after he received an infringement notice from Brisbane City Council in his letterbox this week.
When parking spaces at Shaw Park in Wooloowin were full on Sunday, August 9, Mr Allthorpe parked on a strip of grass opposite the local volleyball pits and rugby club.
He walked his dog from Shaw Park to Kalinga Park at Clayfield and back, a round trip of about 2km.
The infringement notice, sighted by The Courier-Mail, carries a $345 penalty for “Contravene a sign, notice, lines or markings on carriageways and other areas on council land”.
Mr Allthorpe said the description made no sense because there were no parking signs in the area.
He went back on Monday, the same day he received the notice in the mail, and said he was “bewildered” by the complete absence of council parking notices.
“If there was a sign, I would not have parked there,” Mr Allthorpe said.
“Nowhere to be found. No council signs. Where do you park in a city that is overloaded? What do you do?
“If they do that to a young family … you wonder why people are giving up.”
He believes the penalty is an example of local government “greed”.
“They are so greedy,” he said.
“If they have those exorbitant fines, why not put a carpark there? No, they will not do it. They will keep slugging you.”
The frustrated dog owner has lodged a dispute letter online to fight the fine.
Brisbane City Council has been contacted for comment.
