Free Traffic Legal Advice

Please stop dancing on the head of a pin with this.

You were engaged in an exempt activity = it is as if the waiting restriction did  not exist.

You don't have to apologise, ask for forgiveness, plea for clemency: according to your account you were absolutely entitled to be parked where you were. And you could go back again, and again and again..providing it's on a Sunday!

One modification to my draft, you saw the PCN but it blew away before it could be examined. A minor change.

Please stop dancing on the head of a pin with this.

You crack me up. I couldn’t stop laughing

You were engaged in an exempt activity = it is as if the waiting restriction did  not exist.

You don't have to apologise, ask for forgiveness, plea for clemency: according to your account you were absolutely entitled to be parked where you were. And you could go back again, and again and again. Providing it's on a Sunday!

I like your use of words.

That’s right Sunday or After 5 pm Monday to Saturday.

One modification to my draft, you saw the PCN but it blew away before it could be examined. A minor change.

Thanks. Amended

Please can you check my final draft and amend accordingly if needed. Cheers

@H C Andersen @Standfordman

Received appeal rejection letter below dated 13th December to my appeal sent 10th December. Very quick rejection reply. Just saw it.

Any advice on what to do next. Should I pay or wait for notice to owner and appeal and if necessary take it to the Tribunal.
Grateful for Advise from the experts on the next step / action. What are the chances of winning if it goes up to the tribunal?



Parking Services
Gun Wharf
Dock Road
Chatham
Kent
ME4 4TR
13th December 2024


Dear xxxxx

PENALTY CHARGE NOTICE: MW92094257

I refer to your recent appeal regarding the above Penalty Charge Notice.
In exercising our discretion to cancel a penalty charge notice, the circumstances detailed in your representations have been considered and all reasons for appeal have been taken into consideration. However, on this occasion I cannot find any compelling grounds in which to do so.


Although you have stated that you were taking a number of bulky food items for homeless people to the Emmaus Church Centre and needed to park by the entrance to do so as some of the delivery was hot food and in consequence; I had to contact specific volunteers within the building so that this could be transferred to their own insulated containers, I am unfortunately unable to accept this as mitigating circumstances because your vehicle was parked in a 'Restricted Zone At Any Time' area. Your vehicle was not exempt, therefore a Penalty Charge Notice was enforced by Medway Council.


The entry signs in Clover Street clearly state that this is a 'Restricted Zone at any Time' and 'No Loading' on Monday to Saturday 10:00am to 5pm. Non loading vehicles are not permitted to park in this area at anytime. As your vehicle was parked in Clover Street on 24/11/2024, your vehicle was correctly issued a Penalty Charge Notice.


As much as I can appreciate the that the situation was helping others in need, I am unable to cancel the PCN on this basis as all drivers must ensure that their vehicle is parked legally and a good cause does not constitute parking illegally. As per Medway Council’s Parking Enforcement Policy, in a Zero Tolerance area, no observation period is required however I can confirm that the Civil Enforcement Officer witnessed no activity around the vehicle therefore the ticket was issued correctly.
I must advise that it is the driver’s responsibility to ensure all parking restrictions are adhered to before leaving the vehicle parked.


As per Medway Council’s Parking Enforcement Policy, no observation period is required to any vehicle parked in an 'at all times zone' within a zero tolerance area. However, I can confirm that the Civil Enforcement Officer witnessed no loading/unloading in the time observed.


Please find attached a copy of the link to our website in order for you to view the photographic evidence that endorses the fact that the Penalty Charge Notice was correctly issued. In order to access this page you will require your vehicle registration and penalty charge number. http://www.medway.gov.uk/parkingandtransport/parkingticketsandfines.aspx


On appraisal of the evidence there are insufficient grounds for waiving the Penalty Charge Notice on this occasion. I would therefore ask you to make payment of £35.00 within 14 days of the date of this letter to take advantage of the discount of 50% available for early payment of the Penalty Charge Notice. Failure to pay within the discounted period will result in the Penalty Charge Notice being enforced at its full value of £70.00.


Should you wish to appeal further a `Notice to Owner` will be sent to the owner/keeper of the vehicle at which stage the Penalty Charge Notice will stand at £70.00. Full details of how to appeal will be given on the `Notice to Owner`’. If you disagree with the council’s decision at the Notice To Owner stage you can appeal to the independent adjudicator. You can appeal by visiting the tribunal’s website: www.trafficpenaltytribunal.gov.uk/appeal


Please note the Parking Office has the facility to accept payments by Credit/Debit/Switch/Delta cards by using the automatic payments system on 01634 334477, or pay online at www.medway.gov.uk

"The entry signs in Clover Street clearly state that this is a 'Restricted Zone at any Time' and 'No Loading' on Monday to Saturday 10:00am to 5pm. Non loading vehicles are not permitted to park in this area at anytime. As your vehicle was parked in Clover Street on 24/11/2024, your vehicle was correctly issued a Penalty Charge Notice."

Am I reading the rejection notice correctly? Are the Council trying to claim that Loading is allowed outside the restricted hours but Unloading is never allowed?

Although you have stated that you were taking a number of bulky food items for homeless people to the Emmaus Church Centre and needed to park by the entrance to do so as some of the delivery was hot food and in consequence; I had to contact specific volunteers within the building so that this could be transferred to their own insulated containers, I am unfortunately unable to accept this as mitigating circumstances because your vehicle was parked in a 'Restricted Zone At Any Time' area. Your vehicle was not exempt, therefore a Penalty Charge Notice was enforced by Medway Council.

What an a**e. Disgraceful and brings the council into disrepute.


Carry on and let your sister make reps against the NTO.

Now that we know their, shall we say, ignorance of the law we can tailor the formal reps accordingly. 


The actual contravention as stated on the PCN:

Parked in a restricted street during prescribed hours

Which means in law that there weren't any active 'mo loading' restrictions at the time because if there were then the mandatory contravention grounds would be.

02 - Parked or loading/unloading in a restricted street where waiting and loading/unloading restrictions are in force.

And because delivering* is an exemption from a no waiting restriction (NOT mitigation but an exemption) then your argument must be considered.

But it wasn't, it was regarded as mitigation and to make things worse for the council the wrong legal test was applied anyway!

*- delivering, collecting, unloading, loading are synonymous expressions regarding this activity e.g. how could you load something that hasn't been collected and if you unloaded without delivering then the pavement would be knee-deep in goods!

It is irrelevant for your purposes whether the 'no waiting' restriction was conveyed by yellow lines with a traffic sign, yellow lines in a controlled zone or even no yellow lines in a Restricted Parking zone, the restriction is the same: no waiting. And unloading/delivering is permitted and an exempt activity, not some wishy-washy mitigation.

Next time you visit the Church, might it be possible to ask someone in the food for homeless team or the priest or pastor to write a note thanking you or at least acknowledging your donation of food at approx 16:19 on Sunday 24th Nov 2024? Including food that had to be decanted into the Church's food containers.

Whilst it might not be strictly necessary for a formal challenge against the NTO, when it arrives, or a subsequent appeal to the Adjudicator such a note or receipt might make it a little easier.

They just don't seem to accept or understand that because you were unloading, the food into the Church from your car, you were engaged in an activity which is permitted on a Sunday (or any other time outside the controlled hours on Mon to Sat). Possibly because you used a car and not a van.

Reading this thread it is clear that your case for cancellation of the PCN is very strong.

You need to be aware that councils ruthlessly game the system to maximise the cash flow. One of the ways they do this is to refuse virtually all informal reps, knowing that if they do this, over 95% of people then cough-up the money.

Representations against Notices to Owner, the next stage, are looked at a bit more closely because at this stage the discount option has gone, and they know that if they refuse these, the appellant will take them to adjudication, because the penalty remains the same and there are no additional costs. Many councils even re-offer the discount at the NtO stage, but never publish this. A council has costs for an adjudication, being the fee, and also the task of preparing an evidence pack for the adjudication. The appellant has no fee to pay, just the PCN penalty if the case is lost.

Of course it is the vehicle owner as per the V5 Registration Certificate for the car that has responsibility for paying or appealing a PCN, so whether to proceed further now is their decision.

I would certainly go on with this. The exemption is there for this kind of situation. And they wouldn't want a story about a heartless authority penalising a person delivering food to the homeless to appear in the local paper...