If you've ever been trapped in your own driveway by some inconsiderate parker, you'll appreciate this news: Inner West Council is now towing cars that block driveways, and the offending driver gets slapped with a $660 fine.
The new rules are simple: report a blocked driveway, Council tows the car to a nearby street within 3 hours (free for you), and the owner comes back to find their vehicle mysteriously relocated. The Police and the Council are notified so that the bewildered driver can track down their vehicle.
This isn't just Council flexing for the sake of it. Last year alone, they received 4,393 complaints about blocked driveways - a 40% increase from the previous year. That's roughly 12 frustrated residents every single day dealing with this exact situation.
If you're in any Inner West Facebook groups, this won't come as a surprise - we've all seen those desperate posts where someone shares a photo asking, "Does anyone know whose car this is parked across my driveway?" followed by 47 comments of neighbours offering sympathy and creative suggestions for revenge.
Image courtesy of Inner West Council
Since rolling out the program last month, Council has already towed more than 20 cars. Clearly, there were plenty of people who needed to learn this lesson the hard way.
Councillor Chloe Smith highlighted the real impact: "I had a family contact me who relied on their cars to drop kids to childcare who couldn't exit their driveway, and also a person who had a loved one in hospital and needed to use their car to visit them."
The fine has doubled from $330 to $660 - partly to cover towing costs and partly to deter people from treating someone else's driveway as their personal parking spot.
Given the Inner West's narrow streets and parking shortage, actually removing the problem car beats just slapping it with a fine and walking away. Previously, rangers would issue fines, but residents stayed trapped until the inconsiderate parker came back.
Got a driveway blocker? Report it through Council's usual channels and watch the magic happen.
