Did you know it's not always legal to park in your own driveway or out the front of your house?
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If you're blocking a footpath, you could be fined.
A handful of Dubbo residents learnt the hard way when they were issued tickets over $300 by Dubbo Regional Council.
A resident of Cardiff Arms Street in Dubbo, Linda Snelson, said she was charged $302 for parking in the area in front of her house, on the street side of her letterbox.
But according to Ms Snelson, there is no footpath there, and if anyone walks by, they walk on the road.
"In front of my place, I've laid granite, and put sleepers, and that's from just near the mailbox back to the road," Ms Snelson told the Daily Liberal.
"So what happened was I got a fine and I appealed it and appealed it all the way through and still lost because apparently you're not allowed to park on that part at all. Not even for 10 minutes."
To add insult to injury, it was 1am when Ms Snelson was parked there and fined.
She said Dubbo Regional Council told her that, in a skinny street like hers, she should park the way the traffic is facing, with two wheels on the curb and two wheels on the road (see picture below right).
Ms Snelson was one of numerous people who commented on a Facebook post about the issue in Dubbo Community Group, with many claiming it was "revenue raising".
One resident said they had been fined for parking in their own driveway, between the letterbox and the curb.
Some residents on Facebook, however, agreed fines should be issued for this.
"I'm sorry but if you're blocking the footpath you shouldn't be parking there. It means people have to walk on the road to get around your car. Not too hard to do, but think about those with a pram or in a wheelchair who would find it really difficult or even dangerous," one resident wrote.
Ms Snelson remained firm, and said she didn't know why council would bother issuing fines to residents for this, "especially when people are battling".
She said four other people she knows were fined in the same street for parking in a similar fashion.
A Dubbo Regional Council spokesperson confirmed, if the vehicle is parked on a driveway - even your own driveway - and it is parked between the letterbox and the road, it is regarded as blocking access to a pathway and the owner of the vehicle can be fined.
"Parking on the nature strip can cause a practical hazard to pedestrians who may inadvertently walk into your car, or drivers who will have blocked vision of the footpath or a driveway," the spokesperson told the Daily Liberal.
"It could present access issues for water, telecommunications and other utility assets.
"Parking on a nature strip convenes Road Safety Road Rule 197 which states: 'A driver must not stop on a bicycle path, footpath, shared path or dividing strip, or nature strip adjacent to a length of road in a built-up area.'"
The spokesperson said the fines for parking across a driveway were $302 for stop on/across driveway/other access to/from land). Parking on a nature strip would also incur a fine of $302 (stop on path/strip in built up area).
Ms Snelson said she thought these were little-known and little-understood rules.
She also hoped no more people would get caught unawares - with an expensive fine.
"I was [annoyed] because $302 is a lot to me because I'm a single nan that's raising grandkids and ... that's enough for us to buy groceries for two weeks," she said.