Parking education in the spotlight

Cessnock City Council has rolled out a parking education campaign to highlight key parking rules to the community, and school zone safety is a key focus for the campaign.  

As part of the campaign, Council has distributed corflute signs to schools across the region highlighting school zone parking offences, along with the hefty penalties and demerit points that apply.  

Each parking offence in a school zone carries a penalty of two demerit points and the majority of the offences will mean those who are caught will be dealt a $344 fine.  

Offences include parking in a ‘no parking’ zone ($191), stopping where a ‘no stopping’ sign applies ($344), stopping in a bus zone ($344), double parking next to another vehicle ($344), stopping within 20 metres before or 10 metres after a children’s crossing ($344) or stopping on a footpath or nature strip ($344).  

Student safety across the Cessnock Local Government Area has always been a key priority for Council Rangers and since 1 July 2019, they have conducted over 200 patrols in our local school zones.  

Cessnock City Council’s Principal Ranger, Jason Mullee said while he understands the school drop-off can stressful with the morning rush, the rules and penalties are in place for a reason, and that is to keep our children safe.  

“School zone safety is a huge priority for us, but often people don’t understand the rules or the penalties that apply.”  

“We hope these signs and our education campaign will help people to better understand the parking rules which will also limit the need to issue infringement notices,” added Jason.  

Parking rules outside of school zones will also be highlighted during the campaign, which will include additional offences like parking in a disabled park without a permit ($572 + 1 demerit point), exceeding the limit in a timed parking zone ($114) and not parking in the direction of travel ($268).  

Residents are encouraged to keep an eye out for the signs at our local schools and check out Council’s website, Facebook page and local newspapers for more information about parking rules.

 11/20/2019