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Suspended Parking Bay Appeal Success, Successful challenge where I parked in a bay suspended after i parked
davla99
post Wed, 11 Nov 2020 - 13:07
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Hi All - I thought I would post this as may be of use to someone else. I have a residents permit to park outside my house (borough of Hackney), this summer I went on holiday leaving my car legally parked outside my house and when I returned my car had been moved and I had a ticket for parking in a suspended bay. The bay was suspended while I was away and i had no opportunity to move the car.

I thought it was mad that they would give me a ticket given i had parked legally and the bay was later suspended around my parked car, I expected a successful appeal but it was initially rejected on the grounds that it was my responsibility to check daily (yes DAILY!) to make sure the residents bay i am parking in has not been suspended (what utter cretins we have working for the council).

Anyway I was unable to find any information online about what the regulations are about how much notice should be given when a bay is going to be suspended, I read loads of forums and tried to read the statutes but couldn't find anywhere what is deemed reasonable. My opinion is there is no legal statute which says how much notice should be given for a parking bay suspension, I also couldnt find any case law to suggest what that might be, if anyone does know this please let me know.

From a practical point of view I thought at least 7 days notice would be reasonable as people have got to be able to go on holiday, travel for work etc and be able to leave their car outside their house (using the 365 day a year resident permit they purchased). I didnt know exactly what to challenge the ticket on other than it seemed entirely unreasonable expecting people to check for parking suspensions on a daily basis, my partner is a solicitor and helped a bit to explain the statues which the council operate under but laughed when I said it was a contravention of my human rights that i could only leave my house for a period no longer than 24 hours to allow me to check my car was legally parked everyday.

I ended up sending the below letter to appeal the appeal and I won and the original ticket was cancelled, it goes to show that if you keep pushing you can win out. They did not provide a reason why the appeal was successful. Please feel free to use it and also comment if you have any more comments on the amount of notice which should be given for a suspended bay.




I am writing to challenge parking ticket number QZ05462999 for vehicle registration number N450BRR for the following reasons

The bay suspension sign was erected after my vehicle was parked, I went on holiday to Portugal on 27th July and when I parked my car there was no signage or any indication that the parking outside of my flat would be suspended, I hold an annual residential permit which allows me to park on the street at all times 365 days a year. When the parking suspension signs were erected my vehicle was already insitu and the assertion that the vehicle was illegally parked is invalid. The reason given for the rejection of my appeal was that I should check daily to see whether the parking bay has been suspended, this is not correct and contravenes Hackney councils own parking guidelines which state a minimum of 3 days notice will be given for any parking bay suspension (see attached printout). In addition to the contravention of Hackneys own parking guidelines the assertion that I must check parking bays are not suspended on a daily basis is non workable and a procedural impropriety invalidating the parking ticket. The assertion that one must not go on holiday, leave ones own home for a period greater than 24 hours and must daily check for new parking restrictions is also a contravention of human rights and goes way beyond Hackney Councils legal rights.

In addition to the above the parking bay suspension was not clearly sign posted, you can see from the photos of the vehicle that the parking bay post is in the background and there is no parking bay suspension signage on the post and it was not clear that this particular bay was suspended. The description on signage in other parking bays further along the street was not sufficient to make it clear which bays were suspended and did not meet the requirements set out in the Road Traffic Regulations.

Yours Sincerely XXX
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post Wed, 11 Nov 2020 - 13:07
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stamfordman
post Wed, 11 Nov 2020 - 13:44
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Yes we are well aware of this and cases are won where the council's own log shows a vehicle was in the bay before suspension sign.

The famous case in our circles for a holiday period is this one although there was were also procedural issues at the court of appeal.

https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2017/24.html

This post has been edited by stamfordman: Wed, 11 Nov 2020 - 13:45
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hcandersen
post Thu, 12 Nov 2020 - 11:15
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If the authority did not specify its reasons for accepting representations (OP, not 'appeal', this is to the adjudicator) then I would caution readers from attaching too much weight to the reps produced here which IMO are of far too broad a scope and contain irrelevant assertions.

Readers should instead adopt the precautionary principle and just see the above as the authority exercising discretion in the circumstances of this case.
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davla99
post Thu, 12 Nov 2020 - 12:44
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thanks @stamfordman this is very interesting, it is a shame I did not find it the first time when trying to understand how I should appeal. Is there a shorter synopsis of this available anywhere or is there another thread where the outcomes from it are agreed? As a layman this is what i can make of it

> there is no case law nor statute which states how much notice should be given if a council wishes to suspend a parking bay, this seems to be a mute point, the legal argument seems to focus on if a an offence has occurred when a bay is suspended after someone has (legally) parked (and without the owners knowledge that the bay will be suspended)

> the council didn't attend one or more of the hearings so it was difficult for the judges to rule on the case

> one judge thought an offence had occurred because the moped was "parked" in a suspended bay (even though when parking the moped the owner was not aware that it had been suspended or would later be suspended)

> another judge thought an offence had not occurred because the owner had parked legally and was not aware of the suspension or had any legal obligation to check regularly if there was a suspension

Although useful to understand which way a future judgement might go it is still no clearer that if you park in a bay and go on holiday and the bay is later suspended without your knowledge whether this constitutes an offence or not? We are still waiting for another case where the council gets its act together and turns up in court to properly argue the case?

Please correct me where i have misunderstood the case or point me in any direction where there is more information/ conclusion on parking bay suspensions

PS well done Mr Humphreys for taking it all that way and for his pro bono legal counsel, they both deserve a well earned beer

This post has been edited by davla99: Thu, 12 Nov 2020 - 12:49
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hcandersen
post Thu, 12 Nov 2020 - 17:47
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And at least one adjudicator has offered an opinion, but again not when it mattered, the outcome of that appeal having been decided on other grounds.

If you cause your vehicle to be parked in a suspended bay then IMO prima facie you commit a contravention. The alternative is absurd i.e. because issuing of a PCN is a pre-condition for a vehicle to be removed and if no contravention is committed then no PCN means that motorists could effectively bring statutory undertakers' work to a standstill where this involves opening a road which is inaccessible because a car(s) is parked there, let alone funerals, removals etc. The issue of signage in advance bears on whether an adjudicator would find that a council had not discharged its duty under LATOR and if not then any suspension could be found to be unlawful, even more so if the underlying traffic order required the council to erect traffic signs which, whether stated explicitly or not, would bring any such provision within the scope of LATOR.

Yes, the police could remove for causing an obstruction, but this hardly improves the motorist's lot.

As councils have the power to move vehicles to another place on a road, as opposed to taking to their pound, this is what they often try to do with pre-parked cars.

Your question really only touches on one aspect of 'parking' i.e. suspension of parking places. But the same principle applies to otherwise unrestricted roads in which councils wish to impose temporary traffic measures e.g. carnivals, marches, road maintenance etc. and introduce waiting restrictions.

Moral
If you leave your vehicle unattended in a road whether in a parking place or not for any length of time then be prepared for it to be moved and for you to be penalised financially. The precautionary principle applies here as it does in other areas of our lives.

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