Hi
I'm a builder and a few months ago was commisioned to carry out some refurbishment work. The house is on a road with a single yellow line and my client obtained a dispensation from bexley so I could park outside the house for the duration of the works. I displayed the permit in my passenger window on the pavment side and on the first day, I went to my van for something and lo and behold there was a ticket on the windscreen!
I informally appealed and was told that although I had a valid permit, the permit should have been displayed in the windscreen not the side window! Therefore I have to pay them £120. On inspecting the permit which I kept, there is some tiny smallprint on the rear which indeed does state this but I didn't read the smallprint first. The traffic warden must have walked round my van about 3 times to take photographs which I have copies of but have been told that they are only instructed to look on the windscreen for a permit. Quite unbelievable!
I intend to take this to a formal appeal; what do you think are my chances of success bearing in mind after the first day I put a large notice in my windscreen stating there was a valid permit displayed in the side window and I didn't get another ticket after that even though I spotted wardens patrolling the road for the next six days I was parked there!
Any thoughts much appreciated!

We need to see all the paperwork, PCN, correspondence, time-line, scrubbed of personal/vehicle details but leaving the times. What stage are you at now?

is this a duplicate? read this earlier in the forum, some weeks ago

Hi Scaramouche thanks for the reply, I have to try to get my scanner to work with my macbook so please give me a day or two
This is not a duplicate! I joined this forum on sunday!

I never asked! Must be a grossmeister, ja oder nein?

here's all the documentation I have, I tried to upload directly but my files were too big......as stated previously,any help on this matter greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Chris










Oh yes i forgot to add; on the informal rejection letter they got my postcode wrong and on the formal rejection letter they spelt my surname wrong!

Get the traffic Order !!!

Those conditions on the back of the permit look right iffy....talk about prejudging the exercise of discretion.

As Dancing Dad says, check the Traffic Road Orders for the area

I helped someone where I live who parked to remove furniture and to do building work and pointed out that the TRO allowed this and had ticket cancelled. This was double yellows!

sory I'm new to all this! where can I check the traffic road orders?

We must see the response to your informal reps. If it's as you posted then they're dead.

You say that the council stated in its response to your informals:

I informally appealed and was told that although I had a valid permit, the permit should have been displayed in the windscreen not the side window!

The council's Notice of Rejection states:

The Civil Enforcement Officer does not check the side windows of a vehicle and would therefore be unaware that a permit may be displayed there.


So which is it - he checked and issued the PCN because it was in the wrong place, or he didn't check? Can't have it both ways. But the important issue IMO is that as the NOR flies in the face of the response to the informals without acknowledging that the reasons in the NOR are at odds with the earlier statement by the council, it has not properly considered your reps.

Procedural Imporpriety - failure to comply with the statutory requirement placed on the council to properly consider all representations.

But get the traffic order as well, I like a good laugh.

Also, I can't see the PCN

HCA

Right well as time is drawing near I've filled in the form and submitted this statement, lets see what happens!

Context of appeal:

I am a small builder who carried out maintenance work to 33 Church Road, Bexleyheath between 8th and 13th November 2010. My Client obtained a parking permit to allow me to park my van outside the premises on a single yellow line for the week commencing 8th November 2010. On the first day that the works took place, I received a penalty notice.

I am contesting this penalty on the the following grounds:

I had a valid permit but no immediately obvious instruction was given as to where to display it
I was issued with a pcn on the first day but didn’t get one on the subsequent 5 days I was parked in the same spot
the traffic warden must have seen the permit as there are photos of many angles of the van

I would like to expand on these points:

I have used visitors permits in the past at Lion Road which is just a few hundred yards from Church Road where the alleged contravention took place. The last time I used one of these permits, my client informed me that the permit had to be displayed in the kerbside window. On one occasion, I received a penalty notice even though I had a valid and correctly displayed permit. I contested this and Bexley dropped the charge (please see photo attached). Unfortunately I no longer have the documentation relating to this but Bexley should have if they are compliant, as it is less than a year ago. I was unaware that the council had changed their policy on which window to display the permit. As such, and as I was busy on the first day of the works, it didn’t occur to me to read the smallprint on the reverse side of the permit, which states that it should be displayed in the front windscreen, and I displayed it in the same place as previously in Lion Road.

I am unable to understand why I received a PCN on the first day (8th November) but not on the following 5 days I was parked in the same spot and the permit was displayed in the passenger side window. On several occasions on each day while I was getting tools and materials out of the van I noticed traffic wardens patrolling Church Road. This suggests to me that there is inconsistency in the issuing of parking penalties and for reasons unknown, Bexley Council are demanding £120.00 from me for a parking contravention that did not occur.

When I was notified of the alleged contravention, the notice was accompanied by a comprehensive set of photographs. The traffic warden must have walked around my van several times to take these digital images and it seems preposterous to me that he didn’t see the permit displayed in the kerbside window.


I would also like to add, I used to be employed by the London Borough of Greenwich and part of my duties were to assess risk in the workplace. The instruction to display permits in the front windscreen seems to me at least bizarre and at worst extremely dangerous. To relate the facts to this case; Church Road is very busy, it is conceivable that a vehicle could have rammed into the back of my van. It is also conceivable that a traffic warden could have been inspecting a valid parking permit in the front windscreen at the same time standing in front of the van in the road. Injury or worse would inevitably occur; this would not happen if parking permits were displayed in the kerbside window. It is quite obvious to me that the policies implemented have not been properly risk assessed.

To add to the incompetent nature of the department concerned, the Notice of Rejection of Informal Challenge was delivered to me late due to the wrong postcode on the letter (SE12 0YP) and the Notice of Rejection of Formal Representation spelt my surname wrong! (Mr C H Date)

On these grounds, I would request that the penalty should be dropped.