By STEVE GRAY
SOUTHERN Downs Regional Council has refused to reveal the cost of painting a large area of car park and then stripping the paint off – all in the one day.
At one stage at least four council trucks and their crews were working out-of-hours to remove the bungled paint job.
On Wednesday, 11 December council workers painted eight wide stripes, each approximately one metre by nine metres, on a section of carpark adjacent to council chambers on Fitzroy Street, Warwick.
Workers then spent several hours removing that same paint in an exercise that must have cost ratepayers thousands of dollars.
The Southern Free Times subsequently put five questions to council, asking the reasons why the paint was applied and then stripped off; what resources were used; how long the whole exercise took; and the estimated cost.
A statement from council merely quoted acting engineering services director Stephen Bell saying “council wanted to ensure there are plenty of free parking spaces at its Warwick offices for customers and created a section of 30-minute time restricted parking close to the office entry and Warwick Library.
“One row of parking on the west side of the carpark has been reserved for council staff however there was an error made in the demarcation of the area.
“It was decided to remove the painted white lines as signage was considered enough to indicate the purpose of this parking area.”
No information was provided by Mr Bell as to the cost of the whole operation, which would have run into thousands of dollars, sources say.
Council sources said the exercise was ordered in an attempt to reserve spaces for council-owned vehicles car-pooled by staff.
The paint having been applied, it was then pointed out that anybody could park there because a ticket for ignoring the new white stripes would not be enforceable. Therefore the paint had to be removed.
Crews set to work undoing the job at around 4pm and were hard at it at 7.30pm and into the night, with lights, high pressure sprays, four trucks and up to eight council workers. By morning only the vaguest outline of the stripes was visible.
The Southern Free Times will continue to pursue the Southern Downs Regional Council about the cost of the bungle.
