A compromise over where to park a sprintcar truck on Warrnambool's Raglan Parade has been reached with the driver now allowed to park in a one-hour zone for longer without being booked.
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Steve Stathy made headlines on Thursday when he was told by council staff not to park on the median strip opposite the Downtown Motel, a stance that raised the ire of residents and speedway fans alike.
On Friday, after returning from a Mount Gambier race at 1.30am, Mr Stathy parked on the other side of Raglan Parade opposite his motel.
After moving the truck about 9am Friday to the one-hour zone directly out the front of his motel, he was then told that a complaint had been made to the council about him being parked out the front of the Department of Primary Industries building.
When council staff visited the Downtown Motel again, Mr Stathy was told he could park his truck around the corner out the front of Warrnambool Primary School.
But later in the day he was told by a third party who had intervened in the issue that the council would now allow him to park for longer in the one-hour zone out the front of the motel.
"I'm grateful to be able to park there," Mr Stathy said
"It's a compromise and they've used a bit of commonsense which is what was needed in the first place."
He said he would still like to see a bit of leniency when it comes to parking on the median strip.
Mr Stathy said he'd had "so many" people call in at the motel on Friday to offer support, one even offering the use of their property and a car for transport.
"How good's that?"
Mr Stathy spent most of yesterday doing maintenance on the sprintcar of Cory Eliason under the motel carport.
On Thursday, a council statement said parking on the Raglan Parade median strip was in breach of state road rules, and was enforceable by either the council officers or the police.
"It is not a local law governed by the Warrnambool City Council," it said.
Road safety adviser Senior Sergeant Chris Asenjo said police were focused this week on the five main causes of road fatalities and would not be directing police resources to the issue.
"We've got our attention on other things at this time," he said.
Senior Sergeant Asenjo said they could work with the council going forward.
Mayor Tony Herbert said the Classic was a magnificent event and the council was very conscious of doing everything it could to support the speedway and its members.
He said the council wanted to make sure infrastructure was protected while making it easy to have vehicles close by people's accommodation.
In a statement on Friday, the council's chief executive officer Peter Schneider said that each year it received a handful of concerns related to the parking of transport vehicles.
"Council's approach is to work with both the residents and transport operators to find an acceptable compromise that ensures parking occurs safely and that residents are not impeded," he said.
"Council has not in recent history issued any infringements to speedway transport operators.
"We appreciate that the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic is a significant event and one that we actively support.
"Council's local laws team have held discussions in relation to the Raglan Parade concern and we have offered a number of alternative options in the immediate area."
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