The City of Melbourne Has Temporarily Stopped Issuing Some Parking Fines in the CBD

If you need to head to the CBD to pick up essentials or for medical needs — two of the times when the Prime Minister says it is OK to leave the house, as well as for work, to provide support and to exercise in small groups — you have one less thing to worry about: parking fines.

The City of Melbourne announced it's easing up on issuing parking fines for minor infringements for the time being. Taking to Twitter yesterday, the Council said, "given these exceptional times, we will use our discretion and only issue fines when vehicles are parked unsafely".

So, while you can probably get away with overstaying your backstreet meter session a little, you'll still cop a fine for blocking driveways, clearways or lanes, parking in a resident permit zone, parking too close to an intersection or parking in a disability bay without the proper permit.

The council also said, "We ask everyone to be mindful of the importance of vehicle turnover to support people needing to access essential services and businesses." While there are now less people out and about, and fewer cars on the streets, it's certainly not a time to be a carpark hog.

That said, if you're heading out, ensure you're following the Australian Government's social distancing guidelines.

For more information about the measures the City of Melbourne is taking to contain COVID-19, head to the website.