City of Adelaide staff are reluctant to issue fines to drivers of cars parked illegally in areas of your Adelaide Park Lands.

Parking inspectors have been copping sprays from the public during private school sporting events, as shown in emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

One City of Adelaide employee wrote: “More often than not, our [inspectors] are abused by the general public for doing their jobs and the situation can become quite hostile.”

The communications were provided to a Kent Town resident (we’ll call him Brian, not his real name) after a Freedom of Information request. Brian’s earlier attempts to get the council to fix the problem in King Rodney Park / Ityamai-itpina (Park 15) were unsuccessful. This was despite repeated requests over three years.

Areas of Park 15 are leased to private schools Prince Alfred College and Christian Brothers College for cricket and football training and games.

Photographs from July this year show as many as 25 cars parked 200 metres inside Park 15 during a private school football game. Cars had been driven along walking paths to get there.

The FOI documents, however, show that the City of Adelaide has known the scale of the problem since as far back as 2020.

“The CSOs [customer service operators] were called on the weekend, but with over 60 vehicles, [the inspectors] were reluctant to fine anyone,” a City of Adelaide staff member wrote in August 2020.

“We are having a real issue with patrons, who attend PAC and CBC events, using the Park Lands as their own personal car park.”

Council records show multiple complaints about illegal parking in Park 15 over the past three years, with residents and park-goers describing the problem as “unsafe” and “dangerous”.

One customer service phone record reads: “Multiple cars parking around the CBC oval, Park 15. Customer has called and there are a lot of people trying to enjoy the Park Lands and it is unsafe.”

Another operator said: “Park 15 — cars parked in Park Lands, Bartels Road. Gentleman said dangerous as using the bike paths to drive down.”

In a September 2021 email, one Norwood resident wrote to the council, saying: “I was surprised to see about 30 or more cars parked on King Rodney Park around the ovals on Saturday.

“We know that vehicles compact the soil and kill flora and fauna. Are cars allowed to park as shown in the photos [attached]? More cars were arriving as I took the photos.”

Despite the complaints, the FOI documents suggest that only two cars were fined for parking in Park 15 over three years — on a single day in May 2023.

Unauthorised parking in your Adelaide Park Lands carries a $163 fine, according to regulations under the Road Traffic Act 1961 (SA).

The City of Adelaide freedom of information officer, who processed the FOI application, wrote that she would have given Brian partial access to the lease agreements with Park 15 licence holders — Prince Alfred College and Christian Brothers College — but was required to delay releasing them.

“I consider that granting access to the commercial information contained in the lease agreements is consistent with public expectations, community interest, and the public nature of the Park Lands (and the City of Adelaide’s role as custodian of the Park Lands),” the FOI officer wrote.

“[But] this determination is contrary to the views of the respective leaseholders, as ascertained through consultation with those parties. I, therefore, must defer access to [the lease agreements] under section 27(3)(d) of the FOI Act.”

An unsigned draft Park Lands lease agreement, however, with Prince Alfred College, dated 16 November 2020 and published on the City of Adelaide website, includes a ‘no vehicles’ clause.

“The lessee must not or allow any other person to drive, ride or park any vehicle on or over any part of the Park Lands without the consent of Council,” the draft agreement reads.

It is not known whether the actual Park 15 leaseholder agreements contain a similar clause.

Brian has escalated the matter, through the City of Adelaide’s corporate complaint handling, to an internal review under the Local Government Act 1999 (SA). An outcome is expected in late November.

But a suggestion by one Park Lands ranger, in a September 2020 email, might have more easily solved the problem three years ago.

As he wrote: “The most effective way of counteracting these parking blowouts is a combination of gates / bollards / fences / signs and visual presence of rangers” and parking inspectors “at critical times to dissuade illegal parking (and the issuing of infringements to those who refuse to move in a timely fashion).”

It’s not just an issue in Park 15 either…

Illegal parking has also proven a concern in Ellis Park / Tampawardli (Park 24), during sporting events, as well as in Possum Park / Pirltawardli (Park 1), next to the North Adelaide golf courses. 

Then there’s the authorised parking, which covers Stella Bowen Park in Park 26 on every AFL match day.

Plus, of course, much of your Park Lands is already devoted to authorised car parking all the time:

Paving paradise, indeed…