Cops and Council cracking down on dumped vans

The NSW Police and the City of Sydney have joined forces to combat the on-going problem of derelict backpacker vans clogging inner-city streets.

With the help of local residents and businesses, the City of Sydney has created a six point plan that includes daily ranger patrols and towing abandoned vans.

Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore MP said: “We share the frustration of residents and local businesses that irresponsible backpackers are camping in inner city streets.

“This joint operation is one of the actions we identified with the community in a six-point plan to tackle the problem.”

Director of City Operations Garry Harding added: “On-street parking in the inner city is limited and it is necessary to ensure regular parking turnover for residents, businesses and their visitors.

“We are not preventing backpackers and visitors from parking their vehicles in the area, but like everyone else they must abide by the parking restrictions.”

Since August of last year, 26 abandoned backpacker vans have been towed from Victoria Street and Brougham Street in Potts Point.

The largely French community selling vans on Brougham Street said they don’t want to abandon their cars; it’s just an issue of selling them before their flights home.

French backpackers Renaud and Charlotte have been trying to sell their van for ten days. Renaud has a ticket to go home on Tuesday but Charlotte will try and stay to sell the car.

“I don’t want to stay forever,” she said.

Charlotte doesn’t know what she will do with the van if she can’t manage to sell it.

Tim and Thomas, also French tourists selling on Brougham Street, have been living in the van they are trying to sell for three weeks.

“We come every day to sell: Monday to Sunday… we keep lowering the price.”

Thomas said it’s very difficult with the constant presence of rangers.

“We move when we see them… every hour.”

Ms Moore said the City of Sydney is working vigorously to attack the problem of derelict vans filling city parking but legislation prevents direct action.

“We want a simple amendment to the Local Government Act to prevent backpackers from advertising and selling their vehicles on the road,” she said.

“If the government doesn’t respond, I will introduce a Private Member’s Bill to do just that.”

Marketing manager for Kings Cross based Cars4backpackers, Bastian Graf, said the government should support a car park with a nominal fee where backpackers can re-sell their vans.

The Kings Cross Car Market, held within Kings Cross car park, used to be available at a small fee for backpackers to re-sell their vehicles.

The Car Market had been in operation since 1991, but the City of Sydney installed new operators who changed it to a licensed motor dealer in 2009.

Geraldine Pulmecoq, a French tourist also selling her van on Brougham Street said: “There used to be a big place you can go with hundreds of cars but now you have just this”

Now the Kings Cross Car Market only sells cars it owns and doesn’t cater for the informal backpacker trade.

A City of Sydney spokesperson said they are encouraging backpackers to sell their vehicles on the Internet.

Julie Lamberts, a Canadian backpacker, who has been car shopping on Brougham Street, lamented the end of the Kings Cross Car Market and said shopping on the street is much more reliable than online.

Lamberts said because the quality of the vans is usually low, it’s much better to walk down the street and inspect the cars personally rather than searching on the Internet.

“There’s a lot of factors… there’s one car advertising 120,000 miles on the odometer but if you look at the engine its 295,000 miles, so you know there’s something going on.”

“You’re buying from people who don’t have the right info.”

Ms Moore said the problem of backpackers contributing to Sydney’s parking problems is not just afflicting the inner-city areas.

“We’ve also written to the Local Government and Shires Association suggesting a state-wide council working group, as we know backpackers are causing issues in many other areas too.”

Moore is awaiting a response from the Minister for Local Government and the Minister for Roads and Ports regarding changes to legislation.

By Nicholas Jordan