Beerwah parking in spotlight

By Kirra Livingstone

A MOVE to ban private parking companies from accessing registration details to pursue parking breach notices could impact the way restrictions are managed at retail sites such as Beerwah Marketplace.

The State Government last week closed what it said was a loophole that allowed private car park operators to access the details of car owners in pursuit of breach payments.

Car parks are managed this way in part to avoid the installation of boom gates and towings. But issues including that the car in breach may not be registered to the actual driver, saw State Transport Minister Mark Bailey ban access.

“I asked my department to look into it, and they’ve found there is an area of the registration regulations which is being misused by these companies,” Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said.

“We can’t have a situation where Queenslanders are being scared into a rip-off. “The closure will be in place until we progress amendments later in 2023, which will include a thorough consultation process with those impacted by the changes.”

Peter Nugent from Holding Redlich lawyers said operators would now need to seek a court order “which is expensive to obtain and probably makes the concept unviable”.

“Breach notices are sent to the registered owners of the cars, and they might not be the actual driver,” Mr Nugent said.

“Any obligation is only enforceable against the driver and the car park operator has to prove that the registered owner is the driver.

“The operator has to prove that the contract was made with the person the penalty notice was sent to and that the penalty is a validly claimed under it, which might not be the case even if there is a contract.”

Mr Nugent said that if there is a valid claim then the car park operator or debt collector will need to lodge a civil claim.

“It is difficult to imagine that occurring for a such small amounts of money,” he said, adding that all threats of litigation needed to be taken seriously.

Beerwah Marketplace, which introduced three-hour parking limits last year, is considering the impact of the state government move.

While PriPark, which is contracted to the Marketplace, has said it is business as usual for their operation and is monitoring the situation.

Private car park operators are seeking a meeting with the National Retail Association to discuss the issue.