He'd been slapped with a fine for parking his panel van in a loading zone in Banna Lane, even though he insists it's perfectly within his legal rights to do so as a waste cooking oil collector.

He'd only left his van for four minutes, but by the time he'd came back with his drums of oil he'd already been pinged by a parking officer.

The fine is a mistake at best and blatant revenue raising at worst according to Mr Clarke, who swore he'd challenge the fine even if it meant enduring mountains of tedious paperwork.

His attempts to appeal the fine have seen Mr Clarke shunted from department to department in a process so infuriating it'd make Franz Kafka tear his hair out.

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He approached Griffith City Council, only to be told the matter was now in the hands of Revenue NSW.

When he approached Revenue NSW the officer at the desk said she didn't have the staff or the resources to figure out the legal processes to overturn the fine.

She suggested he go online and fill in a form to request for a review, but when he did so he got a reply in the mail telling him to pay up or else get slapped with an even bigger fine.

It is, in the scheme of things, a small fine, but Mr Clarke said he refused to pay it on principle.

He said he was determined to take it all the way to court, even if the lawyers fees ended up being more expensive than the fine itself.

His friends were all dead against it, but Mr Clarke said he was determined to fight city hall.

"They say you shouldn't go to court on a principle, but I say sometimes you have to," Mr Clarke said.

"You should fight to stand up for yourself; you should be allowed to run your business without being harassed by authoritarians."

He said this was indicative of a deeper social problem, namely the lack of services out in the bush.

If there were better services and more staff on hand, Mr Clarke believes, this error could be resolved in no time at all.

Griffith City Council director of sustainable development Phil Harding said the matter was out of council's hands.

"Council Parking Services are contracted out to a private provider. All parking infringements issued by the Contractor are sent directly to Revenue NSW who are contracted by Council to conduct independent review when an objection is lodged," Mr Harding said.

"Any person who wishes to dispute an infringement can either elect to contact Revenue NSW to review the matter or they can elect to have the matter heard at court."

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