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Redbridge council profiteering from motorists!


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It has come to my attention that Redbridge council are unfairly profiteering from motorists driving in and around the Ilford area. I am posting here to find out if there is anything myself or others can do to 'overhaul' this system as it is unfair on drivers and is purely a money making scheme for them.

 

Recently myself and a few other guests attended a dinner party and used the Citipark multi-story car park in Clements Road, Ilford. To enter and exit the car park there is a small intersection that splits the one way street and prevents drivers from driving back down the wrong way when exiting the car park. Upon exiting the car park you are immediately directed to the right and the intersection then directs you to the left into Clements road. You then proceed down two lanes. One leads you to the left - under a building through a small tunnel - into Clements Lane. The right hand lane continues to lead you down Clements Road towards Ilford main high street (High Road).

 

We used three vehicles to attend. The drivers of the other two vehicles have informed me that they have both received a penalty notice from Redbridge council along with photographic evidence demanding £130 (£65 if paid early and appealing the decision could be very risky and costly) for driving down a restricted road meant for buses and access only. I myself have not received a penalty notice (yet). I don't recall driving down the wrong lane but I shall update the thread if I do.

 

From looking at Google street view and from searching around I can see why. It is not very clear to me what the road priorities are and the signs are small and could easily be obscured if you were driving behind a bus. The road markings say nothing and there is no red coloring to the road that would indicate a bus lane either.

 

From some research it would seem I am not the only one to notice that Redbridge council are using this as a money making scheme. Some links below give weight to this observation.

 

Dailymail article

http://tinyurl.com/nefwh9w

 

Ilford Reporter article

http://tinyurl.com/nrtz3mk

 

Forum posts

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=68064

 

If you look on Google street view (link below) you can get clearly see what went wrong and why drivers are being caught out by this. I dread to know how many other drivers are being caught daily by this who are new to the area. Especially since at least two of us were caught out on this.

 

http://tinyurl.com/p5ousm8

 

Based on this and the above information I wish to know if there is anything that can be done about Redbridge council's flagrant disregard for motorists and 'outrageous' use of them as a money making scheme. Is there no way for a group of us to fight back? This has been going on for years it would seem and surely it has to stop. If I lived locally I would be there every day with a big sign pointing out to drivers the restrictions, denying Redbridge council their pound of flesh!

 

Both drivers of the other two vehicles have decided not to fight it and pay the fine without any complaint. They simply say it is too much time and hassle to fight this which I can understand. But if nobody fights back then more people will continue to fall into this trap and lose money. All the while Redbridge council will continue to line their pockets and not do a damned thing to change it.

 

I would love to get involved in some kind of group action but at present all I can think of is to write a letter of complaint to Redbridge council, the local MP for Ilford, blog it all over the internet and write to Watchdog.

 

Any advice is appreciated.

 

P.S. Is it legal to put up your own sign informing motorists of the restrictions as long as it does not cause obstruction? If so, I am surprised nobody has tried this yet.

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It has come to my attention that Redbridge council are unfairly profiteering from motorists driving in and around the Ilford area. I am posting here to find out if there is anything myself or others can do to 'overhaul' this system as it is unfair on drivers and is purely a money making scheme for them.

 

Recently myself and a few other guests attended a dinner party and used the Citipark multi-story car park in Clements Road, Ilford. To enter and exit the car park there is a small intersection that splits the one way street and prevents drivers from driving back down the wrong way when exiting the car park. Upon exiting the car park you are immediately directed to the right and the intersection then directs you to the left into Clements road. You then proceed down two lanes. One leads you to the left - under a building through a small tunnel - into Clements Lane. The right hand lane continues to lead you down Clements Road towards Ilford main high street (High Road).

 

We used three vehicles to attend. The drivers of the other two vehicles have informed me that they have both received a penalty notice from Redbridge council along with photographic evidence demanding £130 (£65 if paid early and appealing the decision could be very risky and costly) for driving down a restricted road meant for buses and access only. I myself have not received a penalty notice (yet). I don't recall driving down the wrong lane but I shall update the thread if I do.

 

From looking at Google street view and from searching around I can see why. It is not very clear to me what the road priorities are and the signs are small and could easily be obscured if you were driving behind a bus. The road markings say nothing and there is no red coloring to the road that would indicate a bus lane either.

 

From some research it would seem I am not the only one to notice that Redbridge council are using this as a money making scheme. Some links below give weight to this observation.

 

Dailymail article

http://tinyurl.com/nefwh9w

 

Ilford Reporter article

http://tinyurl.com/nrtz3mk

 

Forum posts

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=68064

 

If you look on Google street view (link below) you can get clearly see what went wrong and why drivers are being caught out by this. I dread to know how many other drivers are being caught daily by this who are new to the area. Especially since at least two of us were caught out on this.

 

http://tinyurl.com/p5ousm8

 

Based on this and the above information I wish to know if there is anything that can be done about Redbridge council's flagrant disregard for motorists and 'outrageous' use of them as a money making scheme. Is there no way for a group of us to fight back? This has been going on for years it would seem and surely it has to stop. If I lived locally I would be there every day with a big sign pointing out to drivers the restrictions, denying Redbridge council their pound of flesh!

 

Both drivers of the other two vehicles have decided not to fight it and pay the fine without any complaint. They simply say it is too much time and hassle to fight this which I can understand. But if nobody fights back then more people will continue to fall into this trap and lose money. All the while Redbridge council will continue to line their pockets and not do a damned thing to change it.

 

I would love to get involved in some kind of group action but at present all I can think of is to write a letter of complaint to Redbridge council, the local MP for Ilford, blog it all over the internet and write to Watchdog.

 

Any advice is appreciated.

 

P.S. Is it legal to put up your own sign informing motorists of the restrictions as long as it does not cause obstruction? If so, I am surprised nobody has tried this yet.

 

 

" The road markings say nothing and there is no red coloring to the road that would indicate a bus lane either."

 

Surely, though, it isn't a bus lane (or rather, a bus only lane).

It is for buses or access.

 

You were using it lawfully, for access, weren't you? ;)

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I understand what you are getting at and if it was me appealing I would use that argument. I am sure there are plenty of fines being overturned using such methods. Unfortunately the two other drivers don't seem to want the hassle or risk of a larger fine trying it. the point of my post is to ask whether they can be prevented from their continued harassment of motorists by taking more organized action against them.

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Looking at Google Maps, it doesn't seem all that unclear to me. You are directed into the left-hand lane of Clements Road. It says "Turn Left" on the road. To make the mistake you describe, you have to switch to the right-hand lane by crossing a white line marking it off from the rest of the road, and then pass through a pair of circular signs prohibiting motor vehicles, except buses. I don't see an outrageous money-making scheme - just drivers not looking at the signs and lines.

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I cannot see the rip off either its clearly marked you are not exactly going to be going that fast either, the only confusion I can see would be the interpretation of 'or for access'. The vast majority of people that get these sort of tickets do so because they are unaware they would be caught because traditionally it was a Police ticket offence and they generally didn't bother doing much about it. There is a 'no entry' near me that is impossible to miss as it is a 7ft width restriction and has a speed table on it so people have to squeeze through at 10 mph past two huge red no entry signs. The reason they do it is to miss out a mile journey through traffic and because they think they will not get caught anyone claiming they didn't see the signs should seriously not be on the road.

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