15 February 2019

Ask RiotACT: Belconnen Markets and Wilson Parking, what's going on?

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Last week I noticed new parking signs at the Belconnen Markets. Not sure how long they have been there but it appears the internal parking area has been allocated to Wilson Parking via their ‘Parking Enforcement Services’.

I presume this means it will become a paid parking area. The individual parking signs however are a bit confusing along with the overly wordy entrance sign of ‘terms and conditions’ that drivers are supposed to agree to when parking there. A problem with this sign is it appears only at the northern entrance to the area and there is no similar sign at the eastern entrance. This means drivers entering from the east would not have any idea of the ‘terms and conditions’ they are supposed to agree to when they park. Somehow I doubt if any drivers will read the sign of 12 ‘terms and conditions’ at the northern entrance.

A couple of the ‘T and Cs’ are interesting.

T and C no.1 says ‘You may only park your vehicle in the Car Park for the time displayed on signs throughout the carpark during one day (not per stay).’ Does this mean if you have to make 2 trips to the Markets you are not allowed to accumulate more than 2 hours in any one day if you want to park in this area?

T and C no.8 includes the statement, ‘we may use optical and listening surveillance equipment to record conversations and activities’. Under what circumstances are they allowed to use these techniques?

It appears Wilson use registration vehicle plate recognition but what authority do they have to collect any ACT registration data and owner information, and what mechanisms do they have to chase up parking fee defaulters?

It is my understanding they only have the power to refuse entry into the car park for a fee defaulter. Does this mean boom gates will be installed at the markets?

All I can see from this is profit making over shopper convenience.

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A Nonny Mouse11:01 pm 21 Feb 19

Perhaps it will help deal with non-plug-in cars occupying the charging bays. I know one person who needed a charge and found all spots blocked by non-electric cars.

Its been happening all over Canberra. I know of one person who has plenty of tickets from Wilsons. They are a plague on society. It is correct they cannot get your details from your rego plate and in the ACT they can’t clamp your tires or have the car towed unless its a safety issue. Also these T&C’s that can mean people get booked for two legitmate stays in the one day is ridiculous. It just hurts the local store owners who are often never consulted. The building owners just outsource it for a tidy profit, Wilson makes a tidy profit and the retailers and consumers get screwed over. I got booked once despite having paid, because their system was down, so they booked everyone and just relied on people appealing, which I did with a false name and made up address 🙂

James Williamson2:11 am 18 Feb 19

You sure they can’t tow or clamp? There was an article in the Canberra Times in 2017 that said they would be towing cars that had more than 10 “fines”. It included this statement: “Wilson Parking consulted with the ACT government and police before introducing the policy.”

I hope you’re right but I haven’t seen their right to tow challenged anywhere. The sign seems to be saying they can clamp your car.

It means that unless they install boom gates, you can park for free and ignore their fake fines.

The comments on Facebook really make me wonder. Do these people not actually understand who owns what? Like simple fact the carpark our the front of the market is owned by the market. That’s why that carpark is free but the government one next to the Winchester centre you need to pay.

And do they not understand that the likes of Wilson’s don’t own the carparks but are contracted by the owner?

Out of interest did they leave the notice on the window or mail it to you? Reason I asked is there is some conjecture that the plate recognition system they just drive by and don’t leave notices.

Also as per the sign, you will find the conditions say you only get two hours per day and by parking you agree to those conditions.

And interestingly even in free government spots there are limitations on returning to the same area on the same day. Probably something people will get stung with as the government starts to use plate recognition for enforcement.

justonevoice11:25 pm 16 Feb 19

Wilsons are rotten. We were booked for making 2 visits to the same car park in the day by Wilsons. Total time was less than 2 hours. They take photos during the day and dont account for people may have left and come back. We had proof we couldnt be there for 2 hours in total but they wouldnt listen. we just didnt pay the fine and was happy to challenge it if they took us to court. 2 photos during the day does not mean you have been there 2 hours. Also I believe they cannot get details of the car owners, so very limited in chasing you.

Out of interest did they leave the notice on the window or mail it to you? Reason I asked is there is some conjecture that the plate recognition system they just drive by and don’t leave notices.
Also as per the sign, you will find the conditions say you only get two hours per day and by parking you agree to those conditions.
And interestingly even in free government spots there are limitations on returning to the same area on the same day. Probably something people will get stung with as the government starts to use plate recognition for enforcement.

justonevoice8:47 pm 18 Feb 19

left on the windscreen. They cant get my address as they cant access the car rego details. You do get 2 hours per day- the keyword being PER DAY. If they are only taking photos at points in the day how can they know if it was a second visit with less than 2 hours. My parking was less than 2 hours in total.

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