Barnet Council - just miserable to the sick

 

The above is an extract from the traffic order. Two minutes is quite a short time in which to get out of the car, walk to a nearby property, knock and take your friend's bag and help them to the car. If the passenger being collected is also sick it will take longer and such an exemption should not be interpreted too strictly.

In the case Mr Mustard has just handled Barnet Council were as miserable as sin. The driver, Mrs D, was collecting her friend to take her to hospital for an ENT appointment. Miss P had a frozen shoulder and reduced mobility of the other shoulder, she could walk as well as anyone with limited arm movement, so slightly impaired walking. It was February and so Miss P needing help putting on a coat. The car was in a residents bay, one that only operates for an hour a day. The observation period by the traffic warden was zero minutes. 

Miss P wrote the informal challenge and doubtless she thought in the circumstances the council would use their discretion. Not a chance. She slightly queered the pitch by stating they were only a few minutes which Mr Mustard would not have written, he would have pointed out the lack of observation.

The rejection letter included the following:

It is blatantly untrue that you cannot leave the vehicle. The traffic order does not say that and the High Court decided that in the case of Makda.

Mr Mustard took over at the Notice to Owner stage and made the formal representations.

 

Mr Mustard by concluding that the stop was within the spirit if not the letter of the traffic order.

The representation was rejected.

In the first two paragraphs the council try to say black is white. They they go on to say you need a visitor voucher for a brief stop, that is not why they exist, they are there for your visitors who are stopping for a while, not to pass through for a very short time.

Mr Mustard started an Appeal at London Tribunals. He relied on the boarding exemption. Barnet Council decided to fight it. Some of their summary argument follows:

Mr Mustard had an ace up his sleeve but having briefly addressed the adjudicator on the subject of assisted boarding the adjudicator said he didn't need to hear it as the evidence of the passenger and the hospital reports were adequate. PCN cancelled.

Resident parking is there to make life easier for residents, not to be used as a cash cow, which is how things appear to be.

The end.