A Perth shopping centre has removed a skip bin that had been blocking a disabled parking bay for more than a month.
The large blue bin was spotted in an ACROD (Australian Council for Rehabilitation of Disabled) bay with a fence around it at Hawaiian-owned Park Centre in Victoria Park last week.
There were plenty of surrounding bays the bin could have been placed in.
After PerthNow contacted Hawaiian, the bin was removed. The company admitted the oversight was unacceptable but shifted the blame to a contractor.
“The skip bin was placed in the ACROD bay by an external contractor working in a tenant’s premises,” Hawaiian said in a statement.
“This is unacceptable and in breach of our policies. The skip bin has now been removed.”
There are 21 ACROD bays in the shopping centre carpark.
ACROD parking bays are reserved for people with disabilities who have a valid ACROD permit.
Advocacy WA chief executive Stuart Schonell wasn’t surprised an ACROD bay was used for the skip bin, saying it was all too common.
“ACROD bays are misused all the time … for sausage sizzles, food trucks, you name it,” he said.
“People think ‘oh that’s a nice wide bay, let’s put the skip bin there’.
“It’s very frustrating … people (with ACROD permits) have to turn around and drive home. They have no choice.”
Mr Schonell admitted it was hard to police the problem.
“What can you do … how do you give a skip bin a fine?,” he said.
The problem is not unique to Victoria Park: on Monday an image was posted online of a skip bin in a shared access area in Alkimos, between two ACROD bays, designed to give more space for mobility devices — such as wheelchairs or scooters.
“So now I’ve seen everything … I was taking my disabled wife to the medical centre at Alkimos but couldn’t park in the disabled bays because of this,” the frustrated driver wrote on Facebook.
The penalty for illegally parking in an ACROD bay for individuals is up to $500.