3. 6 - parking offence when returning after evacuation
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6 - parking offence when returning after evacuation
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Hello,

I was recently evacuated from my home by the council because of a gas leak in the area. I had to stay overnight at a church. I kept calling the council about the return, and was allowed to return only the next day morning.

As I was returning home by car, I found the road to my home was still blocked. No signs of how to reach my home. It was a one way so there was no other way to reach my home.

I clearly put a paper sign saying "Emergency evacuation" at a parking space, and went to enquire a policeman in the area. I was then told that I can move in but the car had to wait for longer. I went back to the car and found a parking ticket in the interim, with an observation period of less than a minute!

How should I fight against this greedy council penalty?
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Re: 6 - parking offence when returning after evacuation
« Reply #1 on: »
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Re: 6 - parking offence when returning after evacuation
« Reply #2 on: »
Attaching the two PCN's and the subsequent notices of rejection (for one of the two, I did not get a notice of rejection but only a charge certificate, very likely because I had changed address (including new v5c), but the council did not bother to check.).

One of the two PCN's was issued in the morning (0830), as I had parked on an adjoining road as the church parking was occupied. The second PCN was issued when I was returning home after the evacuation and the one-way was blocked without indication of where to go.

Link to the PCNs

Evidences
« Last Edit: August 09, 2024, 12:02:21 pm by mosana »
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Re: 6 - parking offence when returning after evacuation
« Reply #3 on: »
My representation to receive notice of rejection:
Quote
We are based in ..., and we have been residents for three years in Croydon. On March 22, 2024, we were asked to evacuate our house at short notice because of a gas leak in the area. Being an emergency, we were not given details about the duration of the evacuation.

After a few hours, we were told by a Met Police staff that we will be unable to spend the night at our home. We were given the address of a church to stay overnight. The police were not able to give advice on where to park our cars. We have 2 kids of 4 and 1 year old at home, so we had to use our car to transport the family, after taking basic food and milk supplies for the kid and the baby.

The car park at the church was occupied, and so I had parked the car overnight on Altyre road, and had planned to move it during the morning upon further instructions from the council and the gas agency. I kept calling the council through the morning about the next course of action for the residents, but they were not able to provide me with any updates. I had also been ticketed during this time.

As per the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, in the event of an emergency, it is imperative for the local council to:

Put in place arrangements to make information available to the public about civil
protection matters and maintain arrangements to warn, inform and advise the public
in the event of an emergency;

Food provisioning was not taken care of by the council. The council also failed to provide information about the expected timelines and make contingency arrangements (including food provisions) for families with kids. Had there been clear instructions on parking arrangements after the evacuation, we would have followed those instructions.

We kindly request the council to consider the extenuating circumstances to waive our ticket.
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Re: 6 - parking offence when returning after evacuation
« Reply #4 on: »
In both the offences, note how the observation time is less than a minute! It feels like targeting someone reeling from a home evacuation and confused about what to do next and where to go!
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Re: 6 - parking offence when returning after evacuation
« Reply #5 on: »
Quote from: mosana on August 09, 2024, 12:19:12 pm
confused about what to do next and where to go!
You haven't told us the full story, i.e. where you are in the process and we haven't seen some of the notices.
You mentioned not receiving rejection(s) and receiving a Charge Certificate(s)?

It can be simple enough to resolve once we have the whole picture.
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Re: 6 - parking offence when returning after evacuation
« Reply #6 on: »
Full story for PCN's:

CR46209082
Date of issue: Mar 23
appealed within 14 days
rejected
waited for notice to owner
received notice to owner on Jul 3
appealed
rejected
rejection received on Aug 7

CR46274186
Date of issue: Mar 23
appealed within 14 days
rejected
waited for notice to owner
did not receive notice to owner at all
received on Aug 7, a charge certificate saying that the notice to owner received on Jul 3 was ignored. It can possibly have been wrongly sent to old address - I changed V5c address in May so not a problem from my side.
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Re: 6 - parking offence when returning after evacuation
« Reply #7 on: »
Please review your dates, you mean 2024 not 2023, yes?

received on Aug 7, a charge certificate saying that the notice to owner received on Jul 3 was ignored. It can possibly have been wrongly sent to old address - I changed V5c address in May so not a problem from my side.

ALL notices sent by post MUST use the address of the registered keeper on the date of the contravention UNLESS the authority are informed by the keeper otherwise. They wrote to you to reject your initial reps but at which address, old or new?

If your old and when you moved you did not tell authority and did not put in place mail redirection with RM then this might explain the missing NTO.

But it can't explain how you then received the CC.

OP, to which addresses were the initial rejection and CC sent?

This is very much 'a problem from your side' I'm afraid, but perhaps not irrecoverable.
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Re: 6 - parking offence when returning after evacuation
« Reply #8 on: »
Yes, 2024, sorry!

The initial rejection for both PCN's came only to my email address on May 17, 2024. I had moved houses and changed address on V5c on May 3, 2024. The rejection emails do not bear my address.

It appears for the first PCN, the notice of owner has correctly arrived at my new address, but for the second, the notice to owner never arrived, only the charge certificate did.

I did not do a redirection for my mails though - will this bite me?

Link for refusal emails
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Re: 6 - parking offence when returning after evacuation
« Reply #9 on: »
So are we going to see the rejection and, for the other one, the Charge Certificate.

Then we can move on. (the rejection should clearly tell you anyway-- for one at least.
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Re: 6 - parking offence when returning after evacuation
« Reply #10 on: »
Yes, I have attached them as part of the "Link to PCNs" link.

@Neil, is that sufficient or have I missed anything?
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Re: 6 - parking offence when returning after evacuation
« Reply #11 on: »
The rejection explains how to appeal to the adjudicator.
We normally recommend that you do this via the online Tribunal portal.Just say that you rely on your formal representations. Then we just wait and see if they contest.

For the other one ---- I need to read back through the thread first.
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Re: 6 - parking offence when returning after evacuation
« Reply #12 on: »
Ok, for CR46274186 you need to wait for the next notice, the Order for Recovery.

You then make a simple Witness Statement (tick a box) to the effect that no NtO received.
The matter is then reset to where it should be.

We'll talk about that in more detail when I or others have more time.
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Re: 6 - parking offence when returning after evacuation
« Reply #13 on: »
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Re: 6 - parking offence when returning after evacuation
« Reply #14 on: »
Thanks, it is time for me to appeal! I have two questions.

1. On which grounds should I apply? (I believe it is procedural impropriety)

2. Explain why you are appealing. (how detailed should I be?, and will I get a chance if I have left something out?)

I just intend to say the council pushed me out of my home, and failed to provide adequate support and information on car parking during the evacuation.
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