- Illegal car park fined customers
- By Royce Millar
- 22/04/2003 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: Admin ( 75 articles in 2003 )
Hundreds of motorists have been caught up in an illegal car parking operation in South Melbourne, where a company has been unlawfully issuing fines and parking fees on a vacant lot near the West Gate Freeway.
Trading under the name Care Park, it has operated without a permit for more than two years on a 16,080-square-metre site in Montague Street.
The City of Port Phillip issued it a 12-month permit to run the car park in 1999 but, when the permit expired, the company continued to operate, unchecked by the council.
The business is owned by Robert Belteky, former chief executive of the collapsed KC Parksafe. KC was liquidated after co-owner Benjamin Kamer was charged in 1998, but not convicted, of stealing $1 million from Melbourne City Council.
The site is owned by members of Melbourne's Kornhauser family through a Toorak-registered company, Caradi Pty Ltd. A spokesman for the family, Gabor Hubay, said last night he believed the car park operator was running the business with a legitimate permit.
The car park initially collected fees manually, but introduced ticket machines last year leaving customers to pay the $4 daily rate and to display tickets on car dashboards. Care Park left fines on the windscreens of customers without tickets or with expired tickets. One fine notice seen by The Age demanded $65 - or $44 if paid within 14 days - from a customer without a ticket. The company threatened legal action if the fine wasn't paid within 14 days.
One of the car park users, who did not want to be identified, said she had been robbed. "I want my money back but whether that is going to happen I don't know.
"They (Care Park) have been trespassing on land and making profits they are not entitled to," said another customer, Andrew Jones. "This company has obtained financial advantage by deception."
Port Phillip Council's city development director Geoff Oulton confirmed that Care Park ran the South Melbourne car park without a permit after the original temporary permit expired.
He said that when car park users complained about the operation, the council sent two letters to Care Park asking it to cease operation. Both were ignored.
The council then threatened a fine, then legal action. It appears the company stopped daily operation in March.
Care Park is believed to run about 200 car parking centres across Australia, New Zealand and Asia.
Sole director Mr Belteky would not comment other than to say: "We ran a car park, the permit expired and we ran it for a period of months after that. We reached an agreement with the council to cease operation of that car park without legal action being taken and with us not seeking to enforce parking fees payable."
He would not say if his company was prepared to refund money to customers.
The Care Park case highlights what is claimed to be a wider trend for some car park operators in Melbourne to push the boundaries. It also raises the question of whether commercial car park operators are legally entitled to issue fines.
Victorian Parking Industry Association president Steve Hargitay said car park operators were not allowed to fine customers unless given official approval by a local council. "I am not aware of any major operators issuing unauthorised fines."
He said Care Park was not a member of his association.
Trading under the name Care Park, it has operated without a permit for more than two years on a 16,080-square-metre site in Montague Street.
The City of Port Phillip issued it a 12-month permit to run the car park in 1999 but, when the permit expired, the company continued to operate, unchecked by the council.
The business is owned by Robert Belteky, former chief executive of the collapsed KC Parksafe. KC was liquidated after co-owner Benjamin Kamer was charged in 1998, but not convicted, of stealing $1 million from Melbourne City Council.
The site is owned by members of Melbourne's Kornhauser family through a Toorak-registered company, Caradi Pty Ltd. A spokesman for the family, Gabor Hubay, said last night he believed the car park operator was running the business with a legitimate permit.
The car park initially collected fees manually, but introduced ticket machines last year leaving customers to pay the $4 daily rate and to display tickets on car dashboards. Care Park left fines on the windscreens of customers without tickets or with expired tickets. One fine notice seen by The Age demanded $65 - or $44 if paid within 14 days - from a customer without a ticket. The company threatened legal action if the fine wasn't paid within 14 days.
One of the car park users, who did not want to be identified, said she had been robbed. "I want my money back but whether that is going to happen I don't know.
"They (Care Park) have been trespassing on land and making profits they are not entitled to," said another customer, Andrew Jones. "This company has obtained financial advantage by deception."
Port Phillip Council's city development director Geoff Oulton confirmed that Care Park ran the South Melbourne car park without a permit after the original temporary permit expired.
He said that when car park users complained about the operation, the council sent two letters to Care Park asking it to cease operation. Both were ignored.
The council then threatened a fine, then legal action. It appears the company stopped daily operation in March.
Care Park is believed to run about 200 car parking centres across Australia, New Zealand and Asia.
Sole director Mr Belteky would not comment other than to say: "We ran a car park, the permit expired and we ran it for a period of months after that. We reached an agreement with the council to cease operation of that car park without legal action being taken and with us not seeking to enforce parking fees payable."
He would not say if his company was prepared to refund money to customers.
The Care Park case highlights what is claimed to be a wider trend for some car park operators in Melbourne to push the boundaries. It also raises the question of whether commercial car park operators are legally entitled to issue fines.
Victorian Parking Industry Association president Steve Hargitay said car park operators were not allowed to fine customers unless given official approval by a local council. "I am not aware of any major operators issuing unauthorised fines."
He said Care Park was not a member of his association.
Source: https://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/04/21/1050777213086.html
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