Hi all. Please see my best attempt below. Happy to get feedback. I have video evidence of the permit slots all being used up on the 16/5/25 at a similar time of night. It includes a link to a youtube video where only those given the link can view it. I won't share it here so that the counter is accurate. Hoping the lack of focus on the link causes them to fail to view it.
Dear whom it may concern,
I am writing to challenge my PCN received on 13/5/25 (PCN ED43895264). I have to admit the word 'challenge' is somewhat misleading in this case. The evidence is clear, I am quite obviously parked in front of the bin hub when I shouldn't be. I know this and will not waste our time disputing this point. What I'd like to do though is appeal to your kinder side and try and elicit some sympathy. In the hope that as a one off, you can cancel the charge. I am an N3 permit holder and I think I have paid for an annual permit 5 years in a row - which is around £500 in addition to my council tax that I have paid to the council, to park near my home. I work in the NHS and need my car to deliver patient care. If you look at my record you will see I have never had a PCN before. I am a person who 99.9% of the time sticks to the rules as I have a respect for the work the council and other authorities do. Indeed, I think parking enforcement is important, to avoid everything becoming a mess. I appreciate the work you and your colleagues do. Again, I am not 'challenging' the PCN, but hoping for some leniency in very specific circumstances.
On the 12/5/2025 (the night before the PCN) I arrived home late from an on-call shift at the hospital - around 10:30pm-11pm. There were no permit spots available for me to park in on comely bank grove. This is fairly normal since the increase in bin hubs. I then drove around adjacent streets and still I could not find a free spot. I then drove around more streets (see search area) but could still not find a spot where I could park. This isn't normal. Usually I can find one after a reasonable search and a small walk. Please see a video upload (video link) I captured on the 16/5 that gives you an idea of how tight the parking situation can be as mitigating evidence. I grew frustrated. I had worked from 9am-5pm then worked on-call until 11pm. I was tired and anxious about getting home to grab some food and sleep before my next shift at 9am the following day. I considered my options. Ruled out double yellow lines as I didn't want to block fellow drivers vision around corners. I considered the disabled bay but again, I didn't want to inconvenience a cohort of people that often face inconvenience on a daily basis. I then considered in front of the bin hub. I knew that bins don't get emptied before I leave at 08:30 on a Tuesday having lived here for 5 years. The street on comely bank grove is incredibly wide which makes it the safest place I could pick. I was sure I could be gone for work before parking enforcement even started their shifts. I was wrong. at 08:17-08:19 I received my PCN. 11 minutes before I left for the hospital. I was up in my flat getting my lunch bag organised to avoid paying for expensive take out food. Ultimately, I paid a much higher price. £100 reduced to £50 if I pay within 14 days. I was devastated and demoralised having thought I'd make a reasonable choice the night before. It was difficult to come to terms with the fact I'd spend most of my working day earning that £50 back.
Can I please ask that on this occasion my PCN be cancelled? I will never park in front of a bin hub again. I will widen my search area and wait as long as it takes/walk as far as I need to find a free spot. In the grand scheme of things, this PCN isn't keeping Edinburgh tidy and it isn't punishing a repeat offender or someone with disregard for the rules. In this case the PCN is hitting someone who made an honest mistake after a particularly tough spell at work. It will not happen again and I hope you can exercise your discretion in this case.
Kind regards,
