By Fiona Brady, Inner West Weekly, 24 June 2010

DRIVERS stung by an unfair parking fine in Ashfield could soon have a new way to fight back.

Ashfield Council is considering establishing an appeals panel where people could challenge parking infringement notices issued by its rangers. Ashfield mayor Ted Cassidy is behind the proposal, which was to be discussed by councillors at Tuesday night’s council meeting.

Cr Cassidy has proposed that a council officer and two residents would sit on the panel and would be given the power to cancel fines if there were ‘‘compassionate or empirical’’ grounds for leniency.

"Council is a community organisation; we should be able to listen and make a decision where there are extenuating circumstances," Cr Cassidy said. "There needs to be a simpler avenue of appeal."

He gave an example of someone who parks on a grass verge for 15 years without a penalty but who then gets a parking ticket with no warning. Another example was someone who is taken ill and  rushed to hospital but their car is left in a two-hour parking spot.

The appeals panels are the brainchild of Parramatta Council, which recently carried out a six month trial of the system. Michael Thomas is one Ashfield resident who would support an appeals panel.

Earlier this year he received an $84 parking fine from Ashfield Council for the mysterious offence of “not stand vehicle in marked parking space”. Mr Thomas, who rides a Vespa, couldn’t remember the incident but was incensed because it allegedly took place from "10.22 hours to 10.23 hours".

"I am still not sure what the infringement was for, but to issue a fine for one minute is to me quite incredible," Mr Thomas said. He said he paid the fine because it would have been "stressful" to fight it through the State Debt Recovery Office. "The panel sounds like a terrific idea."