No parking below black mountain?

It’s never been legal parking, its just been a place where the parking officers rarely visit. Calling it a “dirt car-park” is an overstatement.

The problem with anu parking is:
– lecturers sell their car-parking spots to mates working in the city for beer money
– heaps of construction going on, wiping out all the car-parks.
– general increase in demand of car parks.
– over selling car parking spots by anu transport.

notdingers said :

Drove past there this afternoon while making a delivery.

Definitely several No Parking signs around the area. Couldn’t read the exact text but it seemed to spell out pretty clearly No Parking.

Also a parking inspector there giving out another round of tickets…

Well I also checked this afternoon and yes the area is surrounded with brand new “no parking signs”. I guess I just didn’t notice since I didn’t expect them although I have the sneaking suspicion they were installed while I was away from my car. Anyway I guess I’ll pay the fine, but if they want to discourage parking there they really ought to remove/block the bitumen lip that links it to the road. Feel sorry for the trail users though, guess we spoiled their fun.

Helen said :

I’m so glad I graduated before the construction started up that end of campus. Parking was hard enough then, it would be ridiculous now.

Yes the construction all around the ANU had definitely added to parking problems there’s no room for students let alone more construction/tradesmen vehicles. But I no longer have the use of a car (was borrowing) from today anyway so Ill guess I’ll go back to the bus and riding, hopefully my $79 will be spent on bike paths.

When I went to ANU (graduated 4 years ago), I used to park in the dirt patch in the middle of this map.

It was supposedly CSIRO staff only parking, and I did hear about other people getting leaflets left on their windscreen warning that cars driven by people other than CSIRO staff would be towed. I never saw any such leaflet and never heard of anyone actually being towed.

We used to park there because if you were doing forestry/geology/enviro science/biology and your first class for the day was after 9am you had no hope of getting a park anywhere near the particular building – whether free or paid. The dirt carpark was never full – I don’t think I ever saw more 20 cars in there, and it could have fit at least double that.

I’m so glad I graduated before the construction started up that end of campus. Parking was hard enough then, it would be ridiculous now.

Drove past there this afternoon while making a delivery.

Definitely several No Parking signs around the area. Couldn’t read the exact text but it seemed to spell out pretty clearly No Parking.

Also a parking inspector there giving out another round of tickets…

Doesn’t the Botanical Garden have a paid car park? Maybe you could use that.

Keijidosha said :

I don’t see how a patch of dirt beside the road qualifies as a carpark, so the parking rangers would be well within their rights to issue a ticket for parking there as the area is technically a nature strip.

There is a crumbling bitumen access “road” to the dirt area and it i frequently used by people accessing the trails without ticketing.

buzz819 said :

I believe the street lights a long that stretch of road are what stopping you from parking there.

So; there doesn’t have to be no parking signs, you can’t park on nature strips anywhere, and the definition of nature strip is far to obscure to be able to get off the ticket.

Another way the Government is trying to get you to use public transport.

The actual ticket describes the infringement as “disobeying a no parking sign” and if there is no such sign the I expect that they should not be able to fine me for disobeying it. If they had fined me for parking on a nature strip then I wouldn’t be in doubt.

As for public transport I usually do cycle to woden (instead of catching the infrequent 27) and take the inter-town to civic, unless it’s raining or I need to move something which in this case I did.

If I can’t find I no parking sign then I may contest the fine but if there is one I will pay it.

I just had a quick read of part 12 of the Australian Road Rules to clear up the matter;
You can’t park on the nature strip of the road unless there are signs stating that it is a parking area;
A nature strip is classed as being between the road and adjacent land, so that whole dirt area would be argued to be the nature strip; and
A built up area is defined as having, within 500 meters, buildings that are next to the road and no more than 100 meters apart, or street lights not more than 100 meters apart.

I believe the street lights a long that stretch of road are what stopping you from parking there.

So; there doesn’t have to be no parking signs, you can’t park on nature strips anywhere, and the definition of nature strip is far to obscure to be able to get off the ticket.

Another way the Government is trying to get you to use public transport.

To #5, not just ANU people, the general population of the Public Servants trying to get away from paying for parking in the City.

Keijidosha said :

I don’t see how a patch of dirt beside the road qualifies as a carpark, so the parking rangers would be well within their rights to issue a ticket for parking there as the area is technically a nature strip.

Don’t know that the legal definition is, but the fact that it is the closest point of vehicle access to a trail head, and has people parking there on a daily basis would make it a “car parking place” in fact, whether legally sanctioned or not.

Next time you park just leave your keys in the car and then the ticket won’t be a problem 🙂

I don’t see how a patch of dirt beside the road qualifies as a carpark, so the parking rangers would be well within their rights to issue a ticket for parking there as the area is technically a nature strip.

Incidentally I had cause to visit the NMA recently (on a weekday) and found there is no time limit on parking, thus the carpark was overflowing with what I could only assume were ANU student’s cars. The spillover effect was amazing, with cars parked in all sorts of places amongst the trees and down by the lakes edge. Nobody issuing tickets, however.

p1 said :

This is something I have come up against before. Firstly, I don’t think there are no parking signs, unless they are very recent.

But I think they are booking you (or warning you) on the basis that you are not allowed to park up on the nature strip beside roads in Canberra, but are supposed to park on the road, close and parallel to the gutter.

If you were to get a ticket in that place, I would argue that you are not parking on the nature strip, but rather in a parking area, since there is a smooth gutter to be driven up, and a sealed/gravelled area distinct from the grass.

Did you get a ticket and did you resolve it? Unfortunately this ticket was not for $0, I think you are correct if there is a gutter and people park there for the bush trails how can they expect me not to park there? There is no gravel but pretty much a patch of dirt however where the nature strip starts is debatable since the dirt patch grows as more people park there, I was well and truly on the dirt patch and right next to other cars.