Parking parents abuse home owner

By Rebecca Fraser
VIOLENT threats, foul language and obscene gestures are just some of the things a Narre Warren South resident has to contend with when he confronts parents illegally parked on his property.
Gary Naismith said he faces a constant battle with parents of students of Hillsmeade Primary School, located on The Promenade in Narre Warren South, to remove their cars from the nature strip on his property.
In an act of desperation, the truck driver erected pegs along the strip last week to deter the illegal parkers, but claims council threatened him with a $2000 fine if he did not remove them.
“I said I would take the barriers down but I would give them five weeks to fix the problem, and if they have not by then, they will go back up again,” he said.
Mr Naismith said his daughter had come to stay last week and parents had abused her for parking on his nature strip.
“ In the end, she had to put a notice on her dashboard saying ‘I live here’ because people were coming up to her and saying ‘what right have you got to park there?’
“I am sick and tired of me, my wife and my children who come to visit being abused by these parents,” he said.
Mr Naismith has regularly complained to council about the matter and said the only response he received was to either put trees up on his nature strip or move house.
Mother-of-three Melissa Ryan also lives nearby and said the illegal parking posed a safety issue and she too copped a verbal spray when she asked mothers to move.
The manager of customer service at the City of Casey, Rob Colling, said council was working hard to enforce local laws around primary schools but residents could not take the law into their own hands.
Mr Colling said Mr Naismith would not have been fined $2000 if he had removed the pegs.
“We will be working closer with schools in Casey to place more ownership on parents,” he said.