A COUNCIL ranger has slapped 42 Whitebridge locals with warnings in one day for parking too close to the verge in their own driveways.
Residents of the suburban street have called the blitz "absurd" - threatened with a $283 fine if they don't move their vehicles.
Rebecca Beveridge has parked at the bottom of her 16-metre driveway on the intersection of Hudson and Station streets for more than a decade without issue.
"We were away at Christmas and my neighbour sent me a photo of the infringement notice on my windscreen, and everyone else in the street got one too," she said.
"It was an infringement notice, a warning, and the council officer said he would be back in a week to issue monetary fines.
"We don't have any street frontage anyway on a blind corner, so we can't park on the street even if I had a shorter driveway."
Along with the warnings, residents were left with a Lake Macquarie City Council 'guide to parking'.
A council spokesman said the streets were targeted because residents had raised concerns about cars blocking pedestrian access.
"Council regularly responds to complaints from residents and visitors about safety concerns relating to vehicles parking on nature strips and in driveways," he said.
"We generally take an educational approach, with 648 warnings for 'stop on path strip' and 127 warnings for 'stop on path strip in school zone' issued in the past 12 months."
Residents can park in their own driveways provided it's not on public land.
Neighbour Sean Brown said in his 14 years on the street he's never seen a parking inspector.
"This seems like a pointless exercise," he said.
"It was a passive aggressive way to do it, they should have sent the pamphlet out first and then given people a warning, it was a bit disrespectful the way it was done."
He said forcing cars to park on the street would make it almost one-way, creating a safety issue for children on bikes.
"What council is doing is making a situation more dangerous by forcing that scenario," he said.
The council spokesman said rangers investigate reports of illegal parking due to safety concerns or environmental damage.
"Council wants pedestrians to be safe and vehicles to be parked legally to avoid any penalties being issued," he said.
"That's why we take an educational approach in the first instance.
"Council does not believe there will be any significant congestion issues in the street."
A mother-of-two on the street said taking her kids to the carpark across the road is a dangerous as cars fly around a blind corner.
"It's quite frustrating, especially because in Whitebridge they're packing so many residents in ... they're approving all these units and townhouses around us but there's not enough parking," she said.
"So for us to be told we can't park on the grass leaves us no options, it's dangerous for our kids to cross the road."
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