Victoria's mayor, Vivienne Galea Pace, in her letter (September 8) offered no more than a smokescreen for her council's inability to communicate with members of the public about the method of parking legally in Victoria. She must understand that her council is charged with administering the law and its procedures and in order to do so it must communicate its intentions to all and sundry.
Law-abiding people must not be left to divine what the procedures are for obtaining what Victoria council describes as a "parking meter". Tourists and those not familiar with the procedures for displaying a "parking meter" are bound to fall foul of the law.
The term "parking meter" means to a tourist and those unfamiliar with the strange use of that expression, a metal pole on top of which a clock measures the time a person is permitted to park his vehicle. These parking meters are usually sited along the pavement and are immediately visible to the parker.
It is therefore misleading to describe a cardboard clock as a "parking meter". Worse still, it is a failure on the part of Victoria council not to warn the vehicle parker of the procedure required to obtain these "parking meters". It is not enough to post a notice saying "Display parking meters" without advising the reader how to obtain these clocks.
Does the mayor expect a tourist and others to know that one must first visit the local council to get one of these clocks and then park legally, provided the spot is still vacant when he/she returns? This cumbersome procedure may be excused if one is notified of it on the Limited Time Parking sign on site.
The fact that no such advice of the procedure is given means that, however unintended by the council, the revenue collected by this failure of communication by the council is indeed a nice little earner.
The mayor should in her letter assure visitors and other tourists unfamiliar with the procedure that everybody is advised of it. If this council is not able to communicate the law and its procedures to everybody then it should seek appropriate advice or get out.