Unfair signage - southwark council/london general

[kellyjordan]

Below is a copy of the letter I had sent to appeal the decision to charge me for parking in a permit holder only bay in the London Borough of Southwark:

 

"I am writing to appeal the parking charge made against me on 27/02/2012. I paid a legitimate fee of £3.30 to park in Manor Place (see enclosed) from 12.53pm to 14.07pm on 27th February 2012. I park at Manor Place weekly for just over an hour every Monday as I work with a young man with Asperger Syndrome who is a resident in the immediate area.

 

I was uncertain as to why I had received the notice when I had paid a fee to park. I asked a parking officer upon discovering the charge and was shown a notice along the road from my car that stated the bay was for ‘permit holders only’. I expressed my confusion as the side of the road I had parked in on 27/02 and countless times before had read, from the signs I had seen, ‘pay at machine’. The permit holder only bays appeared to be interspersed with pay at machine bays, confusing and unfairly marked for non-residents. Had I known this system were in place I would have parked four or so bays down, where there were spaces available on my arrival, and would have avoided this charge.

 

I feel an appeal in this case is reasonable as I fully intended to pay the parking charges and indeed did so on the day and time my car was parked in Manor Place. I feel the signage is unclear and confusing in this location as permit holder only bays are situated in amongst pay at machine bays rather than in allocated sections, perhaps on the other side of the road or at one end of the road. To intersperse the two suggests Southwark Council is purposely trying to ‘catch out’ drivers and therefore generate additional income."

 

Parking Services included CCTV footage of where my car was parked. I assume that CCTV captures the whole road. If this is the case a CCTV expert will be able to capture the exact moment of my arrival and note that spaces were available in pay at machine bays, 3 or 4 spaces away from where I parked. Why would I have knowingly parked in a permit holder only bay when I could have parked in a pay at machine bay and avoided a penalty charge? The answer: I did not know I was parked in a permit holder only bay!

 

I do not feel that this is a problem specific to Southwark, I feel it is endemic in all London Boroughs and needs to be addressed by councillors and MP's alike.

 

Just to clarify, I do not dispute the fact that councils need to generate revenue through parking. What I find abhorrent is the underhanded way in which signage is interspersed to confuse and 'catch out' drivers.

 

Drivers need to unite on this issue and force councils to make their signage both fair and clear. Many thanks for reading this post!