Beware Wollongong Uni Parking Signs

On Saturday April 18 I attended an enjoyable and a very entertaining afternoon of Rugby at Wollongong University between the Uni Bulls and Vikings. That was until I returned to my car in the car park of the new building opposite University Oval.

Wollongong Uni Carpark 5When I arrived at the Oval at about 1.45 I entered the new car park behind the building and after taking note of the very large sign at the entrance to the car park proceeded to park my car in what was the last parking space in the area, thinking it was all OK to do so. You can understand my surprise when I returned to the car only to find a parking ticket under the wiper blade, as I believe so did the other people around me who parked in a similar fashion.

On inspecting the ticket, I was shocked to find that I had in fact parked in a parking space which required the user to have a disabled permit displayed on their car. These were normal sized parking spaces with no ground markings anywhere to be seen. It was only then that I noticed several much smaller signs positioned above the spaces where I had parked declaring the requirements to park there. As I was entering the car park earlier I had noticed three or four very large oversized and clearly stamped disabled car spaces not more than 15 meters away from where I had eventually parked my car.