Newham Council are Cheats - #42

 

That is a comprehensive decision but given that a picture is worth a 1,000 words here are 2,000 to show you the parlous state of the line in Gower Road

 

The test for lines is that they are 'substantially compliant'. Lines like these look like they have been left to wear away and abandoned. Definitely unloved by the council and impossible to see at night.

The issue of a PCN was cheating, removing the car to the pound was cheating, rejecting representations was cheating and fighting the Appeal was cheating. Mr Mustard is not at all surprised that such worn out lines were found to be lacking. 

CPZ = Controlled parking zone: how do they work?

 

The above map shows the extent of one of the CPZs which blanket the whole of the London Borough of Camden. Therefore, if you are parked on a single yellow line in Camden which does not have a time plate, and you think it is a good place to park, that may not be so as you have missed the zone entry sign which applies.

Here for example, is the sign which you drive past at Chalk Farm Road just before you turn left into Castlehaven Road. It is a busy spot but you are still expected to spot the sign and memorise the times (hopefully you know what day of the week it is today so can limit your attention to that day's entry).

Ironically Camden Council themselves had forgotten they had recently increased the daily end time to 11pm. They therefore put into evidence with the tribunal a rather muddled collection of evidence about when the CPZ times applied and once Mr Mustard queried the consistency of their evidence, coupled with his own photographic evidence, Camden realised they had right royally messed up and cancelled the PCN the day before the tribunal hearing.

As a complete aside Mr Mustard doesn't know why anyone from Barnet, who doesn't have reduced mobility or a big load to shift or some other compelling reason, would drive to Camden from Barnet given the Northern Line goes straight through it and the amount you have to pay to park nowadays.

The biggest reason why people get PCNs on single yellow lines is optimism.

They think that as it is Sunday or it is 10 at night that the yellow line will not be operational. Stop thinking like that, you are setting yourselves up for a fall, at £130.

You need to think differently and become an observant driver. One police driver training exercise used to be that the driver has to memorise every sign he passes (or speak it out loud) and then the instructor will randomly ask him/her what the last sign of a particular type was and if the driver can't remember they have to stop the car, walk back and check. Drivers quickly learn to be observant.

As you drive along you need to be observant for:

- speed limit signs 

- red route signs (no stopping) 

- banned turns: left, right, straight on

- compulsory direction signs: must go left etc

- traffic and pedestrian lights

- yellow box junctions

- other traffic, horses & pedestrians

- no motor vehicles signs (the flying motorbike) which are often at the entrance to part time 'school streets'

to which you should now add

- cpz zone signs.

It is clearly the case that to drive in London without picking up penalties by the bucketload you need to drive with your full attention on the road so switch off everything you don't need (do you really need your satnav or route app as that can lead you into trouble when a historically ok route has recently changed) and start to drive. Consider joining the Institute of Advanced Motoring or ROSPA, stop driving by rote, look through the windscreen and start really looking for signs, you will be amazed at how much you have missed in the past and you will save money.

An alternative way  to find out the hours of a single yellow line in London is just the appyparking+ app (other apps may be available) which although chargeable would pay for itself as soon as you avoid a single PCN.

In summary. if you find a single yellow line without a sign you have missed a zone entry sign on your route somewhere. It might be half a mile back. Parking bays, on the other hand, are always signed locally so you can trust what you see.

If you don't take a risk you won't lose the gamble and £130.

The end.

Too many vehicles

This looks like it is a nice place to live although the presence of the security car shows us that it is an area which may be prone to burglary.

Mr Mustard doesn't expect his readers will be overly sympathetic to this situation if they are struggling to pay their own bills and a £130 PCN would stop them eating properly as they are then short on their budget.

 

Mr Mustard can see why an adjudicator would decide the PCN is valid. No observation time is required on a single yellow. Should you argue that you are loading/unloading or boarding/alighting a person who needs assistance then the lack of observation time would work against the council. Having more cars than your carriage drive can accommodate isn't a defence. Stopping on the road to obtain access through a secure gate would probably lead to a cancelled PCN if the time taken wasn't too long but that isn't the case here.

The adjudicator is spot on, he cannot 'let off' a motorist, his job is to apply the law, which will be bent in suitable circumstances but not on this day.

The end.

The City of Westminster whopper

Mr Mustard's client made informal representations that he was loading on a single yellow line.

He had received a code 1 PCN. It is permissible to load and unload on single yellow line, except apparently in the area of City of Westminster ('CoW') where they have changed the rules without telling anyone (except they can't and they haven't, it is simply what they have written).

Enforcement authorities are fond of quoting the Highway code at motorists. Mr Mustard is fond of quoting it back at them.

Clearly CoW don't know the rules as if there had been a loading restriction the traffic warden would have issued a code 2 PCN, not code 1 as he/she did (after about 2 minutes of observation).

Every motorist is legally entitled to expect a public authority to be procedurally fair. What CoW have said is patently wrong. Had this motorist not known Mr Mustard he might easily have paid this PCN at the 50% rate in response to CoW's rejection of his informal challenge (the one made in response to an on-street PCN) and that would have been the end of the matter.

What Mr Mustard is wondering is, knowing the propensity for stock responses to parking challenges, if this paragraph is a standard one

used on your code 01 PCN, or if this is an isolated error (he would bet his shirt on the former). Do let him know on twitter or by email to mrmustard@zoho.com

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

An action packed Environment Committee on 11 June 15

Mr Mustard had not been to a meeting for a while so he decided to show his face and speak to the committee for 3 minutes. The running order of the meeting was changed so that the items Mr Mustard was speaking on came earlier although once there Mr Mustard usually stays for the whole meeting.

Cllr Dean Cohen is proposing that single yellow lines are not enforced on Bank Holidays. There seemed to be more debate about what is a bank (or public) holiday than about the idea of enforcement but after some faffing about the proposal that will be worked on by officers is to not enforce on a day on which the public don't expect enforcement as the pay and resident bays are not enforced on those days. Mr Mustard proposed this when policy was reviewed last July. He is pleased that it is at least being considered now. Traffic wardens could, in the meantime, be instructed to concentrate on other areas and all challenges against single yellow line enforcement on bank and public holidays could be accepted whilst the necessary legal steps are taken.

Cllr John Hart, on behalf of all 3 Mill Hill ward councillors, then proposed the contraction of the area and times of the Saracens Event Day zone. He posited that it could be removed but it is part of the planning permission and other councillors would have voted him down so he stuck to reducing the area size and the hours. Officers are against reducing the 6 hours as that is their way of ensuring the restricted time covers possibly differing kick off times so essentially we are in a situation where you can be penalised for parking after a match is over which is a nonsense brought about by administrative convenience. A plan will be worked up and brought back to the committee with a smaller number of restricted roads for councillors to vote upon.

Permits for school staff was next. You might want to read the proposals here. It is unsurprising that staff who work in schools were heavily in favour of being allowed to park in a residents CPZ. Mr Mustard thinks that residents will not be so keen and the residents in affected areas are to be consulted.

This is what Mr Mustard had to say to councillors on the subject:

I am all in favour of maximising the usage of on-street car parking spaces.

However, the idea of letting school staff is one that needs to be treated with caution as even private profit making schools appear to be included. So a school employee could have a permit which would cost, I presume, the same amount as a resident's permit (with £40 being typical) but an employee of, say, a school stationery supplier, which might be in an adjacent building would have to pay £525 (this is the annual cost of a permit for a business)

I feel a judicial review coming on if you treat one group of employees more favourably than another.

HB public law have noted Mr Mustard's concerns.

Then we came to the meaty part of the meeting which will bring shedloads of money into the council's coffers mostly from yellow box junctions, is Mr Mustard's view, although the safety of schoolkids was, of course, put forward as the moral reason for having all these cameras.

Mr Mustard had his say, as follows:

I would like to say a few words on three topics, yellow box junctions, banned turns and permits for school staff.

Firstly, box junctions.

The words "Entering and stopping in a box junction when prohibited" have cost drivers in London millions of pounds.

If you are in moving traffic and see a yellow box junction approaching you are meant to stop before the yellow markings, watch the car in front cross the junction and clear it by 5 metres or so and then set off.

That is not how London traffic actually operates in the real world.

In the real world people keep driving if it looks like the exit will be clear by the time they reach it. If that goes wrong, they risk a £130 penalty.

Other London councils, like Hammersmith & Fulham, have created some fantastic money-spinners including the notorious money box junction where Bagleys Lane meets the New King's Rd, £2.7m in a year.

The yellow box exists to try and prevent junctions from becoming blocked which is an entirely reasonable policy. What is not reasonable is for councils to issue a PCN to someone who clears the junction but still has a metre of their car over-hanging the yellow box and causes no traffic disruption.

What I would like to suggest that Barnet should have as its policy is that PCN will only be issued for yellow box contraventions where the failure to leave the box clear hinders the other traffic flow, usually the road at right angles. Also, that yellow boxes should be designed to the minimum possible sizes and I suggest councillors take a look at the one outside Sainsburys in North Finchley as being an example of one that is oversized.

Secondly, banned turns.

Rather than issuing PCN for people turning right or left when they shouldn't, I think that the council should, as policy, engineer the roads such that banned turns become impossible to perform. After all you are trying to control traffic flow, not raise revenue. (thirdly is above)

Time will tell what happens.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

a combined Notice to Owner / CPZ appeal

What Mr Mustard would really like to know and councils always play with cards held close to their chest is exactly why they decided to cancel a PCN. In this appeal the council said this was "due to a technical error" which could mean anything.

They also say that it doesn't affect the outcome of other PCN issued in similar circumstances. Mr Mustard doesn't believe that line at all.

This is what his representations said:

I act for Mr X of redacted address as attached authority.

They did not find the PCN on their car (this is not a representation) and now cannot remember why their car was on the road on 6 November 13 as it does not need to be as they have off street parking. The delay in issuing the Notice to Owner has prejudiced them and that is the ground of representation. Although the council legally has 6 months in which to issue it, there must have been some exceptional circumstances to explain the delay as to why the Notice to Owner was not issued within the 56 days that the Secretary of State has stated in their guidance.

Given that the PCN was not seen on the day my client cannot remember the route they took. The council are therefore required to prove that the zone was properly signed at all entry points, on the day in question, with the necessary zone entry signs.

The council cancelled the PCN on the same day which is unusual.

What may be useful to you is to use the same wording if you receive a Notice to Owner more than 2 months after the PCN and to also, if relevant, to ask the council to prove that the CPZ zone was properly signed (it only applies to single yellow lines that are not locally time plated) as it must be a nuisance to do that and the line of least resistance will be to cancel the PCN. being sent a map with crosses to mark where the CPZ entry signs are supposedly located is not proof of anything except where they are in theory. Some adjudicators might be swayed by such paperwork so to be sure, gather your own evidence. If you find one sign missing or facing the wrong way you can produce that evidence to PATAS at your Appeal hearing as proof that the council have not proved the zone was properly signed.

Try not to rely on one argument alone but if that is all you have argue it (politely) to the maximum.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

Yellow Fever - a Bank Holiday outbreak

A pickup called Yellow Fever

Single yellow lines are very popular places for traffic wardens to scoot along to on Bank Holidays. After all, CPZ bays are free and they have to get their denied quota from somewhere, no good going back to the office and saying there wasn't a single car wrongly parked.

Mr Mustard is indebted to Declan Hoare, the Assistant Director of Highways and Transport, for rapidly providing the info about yellow lines that he was seeking (tongue lashing on another matter to follow quite soon though!) and here it is, an explanation about the enforcement of single yellow lines on a Bank Holiday (remember, never park on double yellow lines, simples - blue badge holders might be able to but more of that on another day)

First, what Mr Mustard asked:

Dear Mr Hoare

I have thought for some time that the website which sets out the details of parking enforcement on Bank Holidays would benefit from some simplification and added clarity.

What I would suggest as a layout that would leave no room for confusion is to present the information in 2 columns, the first of which sets out the items which will be enforced and the second one sets out those that won't be enforced. Thus the motorist can easily check the position. Do you agree?

I have a question about the enforcement of single yellow lines. These are enforced but residents and dual use and pay by phone bays aren't which rather implies that a single yellow line inside of a cpz should not be enforced either. Is that the case or would a ticket be given to a motorist on a single yellow line inside a cpz during the zone hours. This question is a general one and does not relate to any particular PCN.

Yours sincerely 

Mr Mustard

and then the response

Dear Mr Mustard

Our communications team are currently reviewing all our parking web content to make it more helpful to the public. I have therefore copied this email to Chris Palmer (aka the "Tooting Twister") so that your helpful comments on how to explain bank holiday enforcement can be considered.

In respect to your other query I can confirm that single yellow lines are enforced whether in a CPZ or not. Whilst residents bays, dual and pay by phone bays are not enforced yellow lines are enforced. This is to ensure that the public do not get confused about yellow line enforcement. As we both know most members of the public are not aware about whether a particular yellow line sits inside or outside a CPZ and therefore not enforcing yellow lines solely within CPZs was considered to be unfair to motorists who might believe all yellow lines to be unenforced on bank holidays. Enforcing all yellow lines prevents that confusion. Therefore I can confirm that a ticket would be given to a motorist on a single yellow line inside a CPZ during the zone hours.

Declan Hoare

Mr Mustard disagrees with Mr Hoare that this will stop the public being confused about yellow lines. It might if there was a clear statement to that effect on the council website but there isn't.

Mr Mustard can see the thinking behind the council's argument but it is a flawed one. Most people think that the large CPZ time signs at the entrances to a zone tell you all you need to know but they don't. They tell you the hours of single yellow lines (unless marked with other times) and of marked out bays which don't have a time plate. Now given that inside a CPZ that you can park for free in a residents bay, a pay-by-phone bay or dual use bay on a Bank Holiday then it is an easy step from there to thinking that the single yellow line inside a CPZ will also be off. That is a mistake that will cost you £110 (or £55 if the parking ticket is still on your windscreen when you reach your car, many are going missing, that will be the subject of another blog). 

The question is why anything except double yellows, parking on junctions and being an obstruction (the police may deal with this) i.e. dangerous parking, are not the only thing that are being enforced on a Bank Holiday. There is much less traffic on the road. The thing to do is to write to your local ward councillors and ask them to get the council to stop enforcing on a Bank Holiday. You can find their details here.

Our quality of life should come before revenue raising on a Bank Holiday.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard