The Mercury revealed this week that the council had cracked down on parking offences across the city, with its rangers issuing more fines in December than in any other month in the past six years. 

The 659 infringements handed out by the council during December was also a more than tenfold increase on the same month in 2016.

Read more: Drivers ‘not fine’ after hundreds caught in Shellharbour council parking blitz

Some of the December 2017 fines were slapped on windscreens in a section of the car park near Shellharbour City Centre’s Greater Union cinema, which many believed was restriction-free.

However, the council said the parking spots had been time-limited since it opened in 2000 and the spike in fines was due to more resources being allocated to enforcement.

The parking blitz was linked by some Mercury readers to the build of the council’s new $60 million civic centre, which opened last month, while others took a “park legally and you won't have a problem” approach. 

Community and customers director Melissa Boxall said the council received “relatively very little revenue” from fines after enforcement costs were deducted.

The revenue generated by parking fines in the 2016-17 financial year represented just 0.003 (or 0.3 of one per cent) of the council’s operating revenue in the same period, Ms Boxall said.

“Money collected through infringement notices goes to council’s general revenue and funds a range of services, programs and infrastructure for the community,” she said. 

“Our aim is to improve road safety through both education and enforcement while ensuring parking spots can be shared by all road users.

“Residents can avoid parking fines and help improve road safety by observing parking restrictions and the road rules.”

The council engages Revenue NSW – formerly the State Debt Recovery Office – to review the fines. The council has said it would look at signage in the cinema car park.