To the Editor, The Bugle:

This advertising billboard has been anchored opposite the Sebel Hotel since 22 December 2023. It takes up a parking space which should be available for those visiting the hotel or nearby houses, for tradies servicing this area, for emergency crews, for customers at Yves and the Penny Whistler, and for visitors to School Flat and Black Beach—including those who attended the New Year’s Eve fireworks.

If every business in Kiama parked its vehicles in public parking areas, their clientele would vanish. The visual blight in question is innocuous enough, but what if such vans were to display liquor or gambling advertisements, or advocacy for Palestinian or Jewish causes, or volatile political positions?

After a month at anchor, this anomaly should be declared an abandoned vehicle and towed away, at the owner’s expense. Kiama Council should consider setting time limits on parking along Minnamurra Street, as it has along Terralong, Manning, and Collins Streets.

Yours, etc., Bruce Ryan