Orange residents received the highest number of penalty notices for parking offences in the entire Central West region in 2017-18.
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The data from the NSW Government, which gathers reports from all councils following the completion of a financial year, says Orange City Council issued 6128 penalty notices valued at $793,050 for parking offences in 2017-18 - a sharp increase of 30 per cent on 2016-17.
The council had issued 4711 notices ($578,038) in 2016-17, 4361 ($506,477) in 2015-16 and 5401 ($651,402) in 2014-15.
Council spokesperson Nick Redmond said the number of fines issued in the Orange LGA was “cyclic”.
“Unlike many regional centres, Orange City Council is contracted to patrol four private carparks, as well as the public spaces provided on the footpath and in Council owned carparks,” Mr Redmond said.
“The Orange community has time-limited parking zones so that the available parking spaces around our shopping districts can be shared fairly between all people who want to use the CBD, whether it be for shopping, appointments or catching up with friends.”
The data suggests that Orange continued to remain ahead of other councils in terms of penalty notices and value of fines in the region.
Bathurst Regional Council was in the second position and also registered an increase in parking offences.
The council issued 2159 penalty notices worth $288,106 in 2017-18, 1830 ($230,852) in 2016-17, 2155 ($271,608) in 2015-16 and 1557 ($202,254) in 2014-15.
Dubbo Regional Council, which issued one-fifth the number of penalty notices issued by Orange and almost half the number issued by Bathurst, was at a distant third position.
Dubbo sent out 1185 penalty notices valued at $150,256 in 2017-18, recording a slight increase on the previous year.
It sent 1166 penalty notices worth $144,016 in 2016-17, and 1134 notices valued at $129,914 in 2015-16.
Cowra Shire Council was the only place where the traffic offences have been declining over the past four years.
The council sent only 57 penalty notices valued at $6909 in 2017-18 as compared to 107 penalty notices worth $14,311 in 2016-17.
Its figures for 2015-16 and 2014-15 were 155 ($37,670) and 254 ($79,046) respectively.
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