How the penalty unfolded

 

This is a case which Mr Mustard took to Appeal at London Tribunals. When the motorist parked the water was deeper and the driver didn't notice the dropped kerb as it was under water and as there isn't any dimpled paving.

This location leads nowhere, with the road being made into a cul-de-sac by bollards set in the carriageway to stop all but cyclists and motorcyclists from going through.

It is 6 roads to the east of Fore St and is very quiet. The point of giving a PCN to a car having made an innocent error was lost on Mr Mustard and the car could easily have been relocated instead of being towed but that would leave Enfield Council £200 down.

As it happens Mr Mustard knows the location because he helps a company on the Eley Estate and sometimes he cycles there from High Barnet and the grey path showing in the greenery is part of his route.

In this case the CEO who issued the PCN was the one who spends his day as a passenger in the tow truck. The PCN was timed at 09:19 and the car was towed at 09:24

Mr Mustard made representations to the council on four grounds

1. The drop was unclear due to standing water.

2. The PCN was not served.

3. There was no traffic management purpose.

4. The council quoted the wrong Regulations, 2007 instead of 2022.

The council rejected the representations, they didn't go into great detail about the particular facts, just spouted the usual stuff about rules. Mr Mustard had no hesitation in starting an Appeal as in a removal case the PCN has been settled in full and final at 50% and the £200 removal fee has already been paid so the worst result, of losing, doesn't cost the motorist anything extra.

The grounds of Appeal follow:

The exact wording of the not served argument was follows:

The reason that Mr Mustard included that argument was because the plastic wallet was so flat that it seemed unlikely that it contained anything.

 

Enfield Council's evidence was

At the in person hearing of the Appeal Mr Mustard handed up to the Adjudicator the original PCN which his client had posted to him under the clear instructions to use a large envelope and not fold the PCN. The benefit of keeping all PCN paperwork in an unadulterated condition will become clear to you in a moment. The adjudicator agreed (having already decided to cancel the PCN on another ground of less interest) that a piece of paper which has to be folded twice to be placed within a small plastic envelope would show signs of creasing:

Mr Mustard knew to look for this as he had noticed it in another borough and from memory it may have been when he actually saw a car being towed.

Should you be unlucky enough to have your car removed please keep all of the paperwork exactly as it is given to you at the car pound, places which are a bit incompetent, and which may save you £265.

This motorist who turned up on the day to the tribunal as she was free was delighted to get her £265 back and spent c.£3 of it on a pint of Greene King IPA for Mr Mustard in the local 'spoons' where they repaired after the hearing along with another representative who had his own cases that day.

The end.

Special Parking Account 2016-17 (Barnet Council)

Here you have it, the SPA, given to Mr Mustard as part of his annual Audit inspection of the Accounts and to be published to councillors and the public quite soon.

Interesting points:

Parking PCN income has gone up by £1.4m. This is what the Secretary of State says about parking enforcement:

The three main reasons why the number of PCN is not zero is, probably, the payment system not accepting cash leaves too many people who want to pay to park unable to easily do so, too many people take a chance and stop for their fags & newspapers on double yellows for a minute & that the council spend very little time or money in educating motorists to change their ways (as they are dependent upon the income).

MTC stands for 'moving traffic contraventions' things like the no left turn at Tilling Road which thousands of folk like to ignore at least once (until they find it was a £130 short cut) and yellow box junctions. Those first came under a cctv computerised ticketing system in May 2016 and the number of cameras is being steadily increased. Expect more millions to be harvested next year. Have there been fewer accidents as a result of cctv which you can't easily see at a junction? Mr Mustard doubts it. Has congestion been reduced? Mr Mustard would like to see some facts on the matter, not conjecture.

Permit pricing changed during the year. The amount that Saracens have to pay has reduced since the scheme started in February 2013 and may account for part of the drop in income. Many people stocked up on £1 visitor vouchers before they were price hiked to £4 and then the High Court decided that was an illegal revenue raising move rather than for traffic management purposes.

Pay & Display has increased by 2% which partly shows that our High Streets really aren't recovering. Mr Mustard would like to see cash payments accepted in meters in the High Street which is most used by the elderly as an experiment to see if that increased foot fall. If Mr Mustard could only use cash as his payment method he would shop in Enfield where they sensibly offer a choice of cash, phone or card.

Bus Lane income dropped because a camera went faulty and it wasn't corrected very quickly. Mr Mustard is also surprised that anyone gets caught in the bus lane as it is long established.

Costs increased because NSL have to paid to deal with moving traffic contraventions which were not in the original contract.

£5million of the surplus (it isn't a profit as this isn't a business we are talking about although it is big business & very profitable) has not yet actually reached the bank as the council accrue it as anticipated income for the year which has not yet been paid. Mr Mustard thinks that is wrong as no future costs are accrued. Looks like he will have to object to the Accounts again just as he did last year, an objection which the external auditor has not yet cleared away.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

Morally wrong

Enfield Council say that the above vehicle has an exemption which allows it to park on a double yellow line whilst sneakily parking around the corner (they didn't say that last bit) from yellow zig-zags that you can't stop on. It would be more honest if they were to park themselves right opposite the school where there are no lines in order to be a deterrent rather than a revenue raising vehicle. If Enfield Council have done their paperwork correctly then an enforcement vehicle will have such a parking exemption. Mr Mustard has requested sight of the exemption.

Even if legally correct is it morally right to park in a way that would be a contravention for a resident. Mr Mustard thinks not.

In Barnet they do things differently.

The above photo, kindly provided by a Finchley resident, was taken in Regents Park Rd opposite the Sainsburys shared use loading bay which catches out so many people. This car has been seen there before with one traffic warden doing a bit of shopping whilst the other one nicks anyone in the loading bay at the wrong time. In this case I think the passenger has stayed in the car. Why it didn't, for safety's sake, reverse into the empty marked bay is anyone's guess but arrogance might be an answer. 

That car is regularly used by the traffic wardens employed by NSL so is probably part of their fleet. If it is an Enforcement Vehicle then it qualifies for an exemption but given that traffic wardens simply roam the borough in it, and it hasn't got one of those pole mounted cameras, then in Mr Mustard's view it isn't an Enforcement Vehicle as such, simply a means of transport.

Mr Mustard doesn't think the scooters the traffic wardens use, until 11pm, are Enforcement Vehicles either, simply transport, but as he doesn't believe in giving PCN to powered two wheelers and they don't cause anything like the same amount of obstruction and can park for free in most bays, he won't throw his toys out of the pram about those.

Photographs of contravening NSL vehicles are most welcome by email to mrmustard@zoho.com and/or to the local paper.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard