Cape Town - This woman is parking mad after getting a fat fine for parking in front of her own house, and the Woodstock resident blames her “crotchety old neighbour” for her R500 ticket, claiming he obtained the ‘no parking’ yellow lines in their street illegally.
Megan Furniss, 51, who has been living in Duke Street for 10 years, says neighbour Yagya Hartley regularly calls the traffic cops on them. Hartley, however, says he applied to the council to have the lines painted, but they were painted on the wrong side of the street.
Furniss, an actress, says she’s been trying to get the City to remove the lines, because she and other residents have not been consulted.
She and a neighbour got a shock on Saturday morning when they found pink tickets on their car windows.
“I just parked on the yellow line because I reported it to the City thinking the problem was going to be solved,” Furniss said. “! would understand if people were standing in front of his driveway, but it’s right in front of my house!”
Another neighbour, who asked not to be named, said Hartley had complained for years when anybody parked on his side of the street. After parking in front of Hartley’s house one night, her Mini Cooper was keyed by an unknown person.
“It cost me a lot of money to have my car resprayed,” she said, adding that she had since installed cameras to keep an eye on her vehicle.
Hartley, 85, admitted that he had called the council to paint the lines, because he had difficulty getting out of his driveway.
“We want to move in and out of our driveway, without bumping any cars,” he said.
His wife Moceda, 78, added: “We requested that the City Council paint a yellow cross in front of our driveway, but they decided to put the line on the other side of the road.
“The line wasn’t supposed to be painted there, it was supposed to mark our concealed driveway.
“Our neighbours need to report it to the council if they have a problem with it. If she stands on top of the line, I can’t do anything about it.”
She accused neighbours of being inconsiderate.
“My husband has been sickly, I need to go to the hospital with him in the middle of the night, then I can’t leave because people park in our driveway.”
The City’s Mayoral Committee member for transport Brett Herron said traffic lines were not painted ‘on demand’ in residential areas.
“No-stopping or parking lines would only be implemented in a residential area where any request has been through a proper assessment. Affected properties would have been given an opportunity to comment before they are implemented,” he said, adding that the matter would be investigated.
Daily Voice