Important News from POPLA, Railway bye-laws Options

[roythebus]

I had cause to go on to the POPLA site this morning ( 16/11/18) and found this on the opening page regarding PCNs issued on railway bye-law land:

"There has been a delay in POPLA considering appeals against parking tickets issued on land subject to Byelaw. This was due to relevant stakeholders clarifying with government whether Notices issued under Railway Byelaws could be heard by POPLA.

POPLA has now received confirmation from the Department for Transport that it considers issuing penalties on Byelaws land a legitimate practice. It has also confirmed that as a matter of good practice – parking operators should offer an independent appeal against such penalties.

Due to the lack of progress on government guidance the British Parking Association (BPA) took the decision to remove the requirement for parking operators to signpost motorists to POPLA for penalty charges issued under byelaws from 18 September 2017. The BPA has now instructed its operators to signpost motorists to independent appeal for all penalties issued on Byelaws land after 1 November 2018."

There are a considerable number of adjourned appeals within the POPLA system. It was thought that we would hear these appeals once we received clarification from the government. However, the parking operators in question have taken the decision to not contest these appeals. This does not mean the notices were issued incorrectly – the parking operators have made this decision due to the significant delay. All motorists with appeals adjourned for this reason will have the penalties cancelled and will receive notification in due course."

My view is still that PCNs issued on land covered by railway bye-laws are wrong, but there has been considerable discussion on that matter on here. It is well known that the DfT have issued incorrect guidance for years on this and other matters, one that springs to my mind is the s19 minibus operations which have been ruled illegal by a number of courts, but the DfT guidelines are taken as "the law". The same comments apply to government guidance. surely any "guidance" is the law and case law.

This post has been edited by roythebus: Fri, 16 Nov 2018 - 11:09

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[Midland]

Is there an optimal email address to use for BPA?
Thanks

[roythebus]

I'm wondering what the situation is with London Underground car parks. It appears TfL/LUL have contracted parking out to NCP. Certain stations were transferred from being purely owned by the London Passenger Transport Board which has over the years morphed into Transport for London; the underground as we know is operated by London underground Ltd.

Certain other stations were formerly goods yards owned and operated by the various forms of British Railways and may have been transferred to TfL/LUL and their predecessors when BR ceased operating trains on those lines.

My question then is: are such car parks covered under Railway Bye-Laws or whatever Act TfL/LUL operates under?

[Redivi]

My understanding is that LUL does operate under its equivalent to the Railway Byelaws but NCP issues Parking Notices under contract law not Penalty Notices under byelaws

[cabbyman]

But, if the land is covered by any sort of byelaw, it's not relevant land for PoFA.

[Redivi]

Agreed

[Umkomaas]

Is there an optimal email address to use for BPA?
Thanks

Write to Steve Clark - helpful, set in the context of being paid his salary by the PPC network. Will do what he can.

steve.c@britishparking.co.uk

[The Rookie]

But, if the land is covered by any sort of byelaw, it's not relevant land for PoFA.

Well no, it would have to be a relevant byelaw, a byelaw for not chewing gum wouldn’t mean it not relevant land!

[Gary Bloke]

Land subject to statutory control is only "not relevant" with respect to Schedule 4 of POFA. This means there is no keeper liability. The rest of POFA does indeed apply to this land, including a section 54, which makes clamping illegal without lawful authority.

[dramaqueen]

I'm wondering what the situation is with London Underground car parks. It appears TfL/LUL have contracted parking out to NCP. Certain stations were transferred from being purely owned by the London Passenger Transport Board which has over the years morphed into Transport for London; the underground as we know is operated by London underground Ltd.

Certain other stations were formerly goods yards owned and operated by the various forms of British Railways and may have been transferred to TfL/LUL and their predecessors when BR ceased operating trains on those lines.

My question then is: are such car parks covered under Railway Bye-Laws or whatever Act TfL/LUL operates under?

Sorry if it's a bit late, but the list in this FOIR might help:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/tube...outgoing-843442

This post has been edited by dramaqueen: Fri, 11 Jan 2019 - 12:54