RR Phantom
Location : Wasted Space
Job/hobbies : Cayman Islands Actuary
 |  Subject: OZschwitz: Destructive statist traffic inspectors hammer Brisbane tradies  Thu Sep 17, 2009 4:43 am | |
| Brisbane construction workers are being forced to play a game of cat and mouse with parking inspectors as Brisbane City Council shows no mercy to tradesmen.
Workers exceeding the parking limit in the city's restricted zones risk repeated $50 fines and have little alternative but to rotate their vehicles every two hours.
"It's a joke. We just rotate our cars and everyone moves into a different spot," said Mick Taylor, a carpenter who was recently fined together with several other workers at a site in St Lucia.
"The parking bloke told me that you are technically supposed to leave the suburb and return but how practical is that?"
Mr Taylor said that he spoke to a senior council representative about obtaining a temporary parking permit and was told that no such permit was available. "I think you are banging your head against the wall with the council," he said.
"They are completely inflexible. It's not fair to tradespeople. We are there to get the job done. It's just a revenue raiser."
Deputy Mayor and Infrastructure Chairman Graham Quirk confirmed that no temporary permit existed for construction workers and no such permit was under consideration.
"Parking space is at a premium and we need to strike a balance that ensures people have fair and equitable access to it," Cr Quirk said.
"Employers need to ensure that they can provide adequate parking facilities for their workforce and, if not, offer alternative arrangements."
John Crittal, director of construction at the Queensland Master Builders Association, said it had been a problem for a long time.
"We are aware of incidents occurring quite regularly," said Mr Crittal. "In some cases officious inspectors hit tradesmen three times in a week."
Mr Crittal said workers have little choice but to drive and park outside the site.
"It's the difficulties of getting to work very early in the morning," he said.
"Public transport is not really an option ... and they've got their tools and building materials as well."
The Lord Mayor's office has said that people undertaking construction activities can apply for a temporary lane closure to be used for parking.
However, according to Jeremy McKenzie, a contracts administrator at Hutchison Builders, this measure does not always protect workers from fines.
"We have even received tickets in a road closure area," said Mr McKenzie. "It costs us $6,000 a month to close the street and they still fined our guys.
"I wrote to council seeking cancellation of the tickets but they only repealed two out of six.
"We were at the point where we had to stick up road closure signs all over the place."
The Lord Mayor's office also suggested that workers could use the loading zones at building sites to drop off their day's tools and then move their cars into a paid long-term car park.
This may be a viable option in the CBD but is not considered a realistic option for workers at suburban sites which are located many kilometres from a paid long-term car parking.
Queensland Master Builders have no formal plans to approach council regarding temporary permits but Mr Crittal said he felt a feasible solution was to introduce a temporary permit that would be issued together with the building approval.
"The permit could be linked to the building approval," Mr Crittal said.
"For example, if under a building approval it is going to take 39 weeks to complete, the permit could be issued for a matching period of 39 weeks and expire at completion."
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