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.

Finchley re-zoned as Hendon

Here is the text of a recently received email:

Dear Mr Mustard

You recently successfully appealed a PCN for my husband. I have today received a PCN on my car parked outside my house in Finchley, displaying its permit. What I didn’t realise until closely inspecting the permit is that although it is up to date the area is HC2 and not FN. I’ve had a permit for this car since they were introduced and have renewed it on time each year. I just didn’t notice that the zone was incorrect this time. I would hope that this is excellent grounds for a successful appeal…!

Can you advise me what to do?

Mr Mustard did advise what to do and the PCN was quickly cancelled as it was, not to put too fine a point on it, complete rollocks. The council issue the wrong permit to a resident of 23 years who has had the same car for 9 years so why should they check the council has done its job properly as that is the least one is entitled to expect and what the resident has paid for.

So now as well as checking your permit is in date you had better check it has the correct zone identification letters on it such that they are the same as the ones on the signs in your street. How a North Finchley resident (FN) got a permit with the letters HC2 (a sub section of Hendon central) is a complete mystery although this is the second time that Mr Mustard has come across the problem, the last time the resident did live in Hendon and simply received the wrong Hendon zone permit and it took months to sort out. Perhaps the council is getting better at sorting out its cock-ups given how many it makes?

Mr Mustard wonders if the permit zone defaults to a particular zone or to the last one used whereas it should default to null and force the processor to input one. Having been given the idea here, Mr Mustard is sure the council will sit up and take notice. There is zero tolerance on errors in parking so 100% of permits should be correctly issued.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard