PCN issued by council

[reden]

Hi... was wondering if anyone can help... i could rant and rant but I will try to be brief and to the point.

I live in the borough of Rushmoor (hampshire)... the house in which I live has on street parking. Residents pay for the priviledge of parking... yes... the t&c's state I am not guaranteed a space. The parking permits are issued only to residents (one per household) and are split into zones.. generally a street is considered a zone.

Tuesday evening when i arrived home from work I could not park aywhere at all on my street or in my zone... every single space was filled.... I was forced to park in a side street which leads onto my street... between the hours of 8am-6pm you are only allowed to stay parked in this area for max 1hr and you can return in less than two.

Wednesday I did not drive to work and instead cycled. Wednesday morning before going to work @ 7:45am I intended to move my car into my parking zone/area but again... not a single space was available! No one at home to move the car when space becomes available and i cant keep coming back from work to check cause work is a 30min drive away.

Wednesday evening I get back from work and find a PCN on my windshield!

I have "challenged" the appeal via the councils website and am waiting to hear back... pointed out that there was no parking available to me that evening and morning, I was as close to my zone as possible (litterally one space away!), tried my best to park within the zone, have paid for a parking permit to park in my zone and informed them that the zone usually has 4+ at least non permit holders parking there.

Basically I appealed to there sense of fairness to waive it... being the thieving b*stards, pardon my english, that they are they will no doubt insist I pay it.

Beyond what i've done is there anything else I can do? The fine is not a lot... its more the principal of it... for starters I do not believe that people should have to pay to park where they live, and when they do pay for the priviledge they should not be penalised when they cannot for valid reasons park where they have paid to park

In addition.... I suspect that the council have sold more parking permits than there are parking spaces. Also... in the area I park there are signs stating that its a permit holders area only during the hours of 10am-11am and 2pm-3pm monday-saturday... anyone can park there outside of those hours... considering that most people are at work during this time (mon-fri) and most take their cars to work how can they justify charging for a permit based on two hours?

Thanks!

[Bernie_the_Bolt]

Scan and post both sides of the PCN. Erase personal stuff and we will be able to advise.

[Oh Boy!]

Same problem.

Ended up paying, there was nothing that could be done.

[Bernie_the_Bolt]

Originally Posted by Oh Boy!

Same problem.

Ended up paying, there was nothing that could be done.

Unless of course the PCN and/or NTO was defective.
But to challenge that you lose the 50% discount so I can't blame you for being pragmatic.

[green_and_mean]

Originally Posted by Bernie_the_Bolt

Unless of course the PCN and/or NTO was defective.
But to challenge that you lose the 50% discount so I can't blame you for being pragmatic.

That is not always the case some Councils will if you send informal appeal at PCN stage 'freeze' the discount period if you write in within 14 days. If you then get turned down by the Council you can still pay within 14 days of the descision.

[green_and_mean]

Originally Posted by reden

In addition.... I suspect that the council have sold more parking permits than there are parking spaces. Also... in the area I park there are signs stating that its a permit holders area only during the hours of 10am-11am and 2pm-3pm monday-saturday... anyone can park there outside of those hours... considering that most people are at work during this time (mon-fri) and most take their cars to work how can they justify charging for a permit based on two hours?

Thanks!

It is usual to issue permits to all those elligible not just to the number of bays. It is after all a permit to park in the area not payment for a parking space. It is very rare for every permit holder to be home especially during hours of operation which are generally during the day when most drivers have the car at work. Most Councils also issue visitors permits for guests or tradesmen to use which would upset the balance anyway if it was one bay per permit.
The reason for the 'strange' hours of the zone you quoted it is to prevent all day parking by commuters or local workers since the car will have to be moved twice during the day. A permit holder on the other hand can leave the car parked in situ all day.
If non permit holders is a problem try ringing the Parking dept they are usually more than happy to send a PA to ticket the offending vehicles. Controlled zones are usually reveiwed on a regular basis you should campaign to get the zones enlarged to incorporate several streets it is not usual to have such small zones which is obviously causing problems.

[Bernie_the_Bolt]

Originally Posted by Bernie_the_Bolt

Unless of course the PCN and/or NTO was defective.
But to challenge that you lose the 50% discount so I can't blame you for being pragmatic.

Originally Posted by green_and_mean

That is not always the case some Councils will if you send informal appeal at PCN stage 'freeze' the discount period if you write in within 14 days. If you then get turned down by the Council you can still pay within 14 days of the descision.

I am well aware of that. Further any council that fails to "freeze" the discount if you write within 14 days not only risks severe criticism by the adjudicator but on a bad day (for the council) runs the risk of having the PCN cancelled for failing to treat the motorist fairly which the London adjudicators have frequently commented is fundamental.

But my post was also referring to the NTO. It is this and only this that gives the statutory right to appeal against a defective PCN and/or NTO and to get to this stage it is most unlikely that you will still retain the entitlement to a discount.

In fact, I had a PCN, made informal representations, council responded saying they had considered and rejected but gave me a further ten days to pay at discounted rate. I waited for NTO and appealed with same grounds, council responded saying that as I obviously hadn't got their earlier letter they would accept the reduced amount. I wrote back thanking them for accepting at least one of my grounds for appeal and remined them that their only option under RTA was to cancel PCN and NTO. End of!

In London the odd PCN is an occupational hazard. I never deliberately flout the laws but I always appeal. There is nothing to lose other than the 50% discount and I reckon that procedural errors by LAs mean that in the long run you save money.

[reden]

Morning all.... thank you for your answers so far, I want to post a pic of the PCN but for the life of me i've no idea how to do it and cant seem to find out how in any of the help sections...

[Steve__M]

All I can say is I know how you feel. My house in Reading is on a street where 50 permits were issued for 17 spaces - and we were only the third most over-subscribed street.

[reden]

It annoys me no end! If they push the issue though... i've just just had my parking permit renewed... i will seek a refund for it! So they will loose some revenue