It is reasonably well known that in the Bunns Lane Car Park on a Saturday you can park for 3 hours for free & then transact your business in Mill Hill. The snag is that you have to have a mobile telephone card and a debit/credit card to obtain the free parking. This is as consistent as parking ever is within Barnet as in the Moxon St car park there is the option to obtain a free parking voucher to put in your windscreen, albeit only for one hour. This means that those people without both a phone & a card can still park for a short while.
Mr D made a classic error in Bunns Lane, which is clearly described in the adjudicator's decision, which is repeated verbatim (bar having anonymised the name of the motorist).
A contravention can occur if a vehicle is parked in an off-street car park during controlled hours, without clearly displaying a valid permit or voucher, or without payment of the parking charge.
There appears to be no dispute that the vehicle was parked in this bay in Bunns Lane car park, or that the Penalty Charge Notice was issued to it, as shown in the photographs/digital images produced by the Enforcement Authority.
Mr D’s case is that he believed that there was three hours free parking on a Saturday having read the notice displayed.
It is correct that there is such a concession on a Saturday but the notice also states, in upper case, ‘free parking session must be registered by phone’. This enables the civil enforcement officer to establish when the three hours began.
The app says that the sign was not clear as he stopped reading it when he saw that it was free on Saturday.
I have had the opportunity of hearing Mr D personally and find him to be a credible and convincing witness. I accept what he tells me. Unfortunately, it does not amount to a valid ground of appeal as it does remain the responsibility of the motorist to check carefully on each occasion before leaving their vehicle, so as to ensure that they park only as permitted and that this will remain the position for as long as the vehicle will be there. This includes making sure that they comply with all restrictions and prohibitions indicated by the signs. In this case the requirement to register the vehicle by phone is in the same panel as the charges and above the terms and conditions of parking.
The Adjudicator is only able to decide an appeal by making findings of fact on the basis of the evidence produced by the parties and applying relevant law. The Court of Appeal has affirmed that the Adjudicator has no power to consider mitigating circumstances of any description and there are no compelling reasons for recommendation to the Enforcement Authority.
There appears to be no dispute that the vehicle was parked in this bay in Bunns Lane car park, or that the Penalty Charge Notice was issued to it, as shown in the photographs/digital images produced by the Enforcement Authority.
Mr D’s case is that he believed that there was three hours free parking on a Saturday having read the notice displayed.
It is correct that there is such a concession on a Saturday but the notice also states, in upper case, ‘free parking session must be registered by phone’. This enables the civil enforcement officer to establish when the three hours began.
The app says that the sign was not clear as he stopped reading it when he saw that it was free on Saturday.
I have had the opportunity of hearing Mr D personally and find him to be a credible and convincing witness. I accept what he tells me. Unfortunately, it does not amount to a valid ground of appeal as it does remain the responsibility of the motorist to check carefully on each occasion before leaving their vehicle, so as to ensure that they park only as permitted and that this will remain the position for as long as the vehicle will be there. This includes making sure that they comply with all restrictions and prohibitions indicated by the signs. In this case the requirement to register the vehicle by phone is in the same panel as the charges and above the terms and conditions of parking.
The Adjudicator is only able to decide an appeal by making findings of fact on the basis of the evidence produced by the parties and applying relevant law. The Court of Appeal has affirmed that the Adjudicator has no power to consider mitigating circumstances of any description and there are no compelling reasons for recommendation to the Enforcement Authority.
Considering all the evidence before me carefully I must find as a fact that, on this particular occasion, a contravention did occur and the Penalty Charge Notice was properly issued.
Accordingly this appeal must be refused.
Too late now but for the benefit of others, Mr Mustard would have argued that the contravention did not occur as the PCN was served at 10:44am and paid for parking starts at 8am so the car could not have exceeded the 3 hours. He would also have argued more about the ambiguity of the board as neither blue badge holders nor motorcyclists have to register for their free parking periods.
Mr Mustard
