Author Topic: Harrow Council code 24 poor markings  (Read 2255 times)

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Re: Harrow Council code 24 poor markings
« Reply #15 on: »
There aren't any ticket machines to photograph. They've all been taken out and now it's PayByPhone only.
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Re: Harrow Council code 24 poor markings
« Reply #16 on: »
There aren't any ticket machines to photograph. They've all been taken out and now it's PayByPhone only.

In that case I stick with my thoughts

There are no signs advising the motorist to park within marked bays
The requirement within the traffic order cannot be complied with without appropriate ticket machines, ie parking meters, you cannot park in a bay relative to a payment machine if payment machines do not exist.

Re: Harrow Council code 24 poor markings
« Reply #17 on: »
Yep wrong location, not a sure fired winner with all adjudicators as location is not a statutory requirement but most adjudicators agree that as the PCN states the CEO has reason to believe you commit a contravention at a location you must at least be at that place

you were parked on the Broadway not Uxbridge rd

Re: Harrow Council code 24 poor markings
« Reply #18 on: »
Yep wrong location, not a sure fired winner with all adjudicators as location is not a statutory requirement but most adjudicators agree that as the PCN states the CEO has reason to believe you commit a contravention at a location you must at least be at that place

you were parked on the Broadway not Uxbridge rd

I hadn't picked up on that despite you saying it before...apologies.

Tis a good point, though it seems to be a service road and is noted as such in the TMO schedule CP pointed to earlier, it is called the Broadway on Google.
Certainly worth throwing in, if only to see how the council respond.

Re: Harrow Council code 24 poor markings
« Reply #19 on: »
There aren't any ticket machines to photograph. They've all been taken out and now it's PayByPhone only.
Then it's hard to see how the council could possibly discharge its duty to communicate the requirement to park within a marked bay. Throw in the other arguments discussed above, and it's definitely a case worth pursuing.
I practice law in the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, London Tribunals, the First-tier tribunal for Scotland, and the Traffic Penalty Tribunal for Northern Ireland, but I am not a solicitor or a barrister. Notwithstanding this, I voluntarily apply the cab rank rule. I am a member of the Society of Professional McKenzie Friends, my membership number is FM193 and I abide by the SPMF service standards.

Quote from: 'Gumph' date='Thu, 19 Jan 2023 - 10:23'
cp8759 is, indeed, a Wizard of the First Order

Re: Harrow Council code 24 poor markings
« Reply #20 on: »
There aren't any ticket machines to photograph. They've all been taken out and now it's PayByPhone only.

In that case I stick with my thoughts

There are no signs advising the motorist to park within marked bays
The requirement within the traffic order cannot be complied with without appropriate ticket machines, ie parking meters, you cannot park in a bay relative to a payment machine if payment machines do not exist.

There is small print on the sign, conditions of use 2c says you get a PCN if you park outside the bay markings, but makes no provision for when the markings aren't visible.

So will the appeal be based on the offence not occurring because the bay markings were not visible, or should I word it differently?

Re: Harrow Council code 24 poor markings
« Reply #21 on: »
Gonna go with this:
Dear Sirs,

We appeal as hirer. The PCN is issued incorrectly: the photos taken by the CEO clearly show shops adjacent to the parked car, and parked cars on both sides of the roadway with only space for single file traffic down the middle. The photos are consistent with a car being parked on The Broadway, Hatch End. Uxbridge Road in Hatch End is a busy A road with traffic flowing in both directions however the photos do not show the car being parked on Uxbridge Road, as the PCN alleges. We would therefore appreciate immediate cancellation of this PCN on the basis that the offence alleged did not occur.

Yours faithfully,

Is that OK?

Re: Harrow Council code 24 poor markings
« Reply #22 on: »

..
There is small print on the sign, conditions of use 2c says you get a PCN if you park outside the bay markings, but makes no provision for when the markings aren't visible.

So will the appeal be based on the offence not occurring because the bay markings were not visible, or should I word it differently?
Sorry, I missed your earlier comment.....What conditions on what sign and where is this sign?

Do not ignore that markings are extremely faded and there are no overt signs saying park in marked bays nor does the traffic order require in any meaningful sense.

Re: Harrow Council code 24 poor markings
« Reply #23 on: »

..
There is small print on the sign, conditions of use 2c says you get a PCN if you park outside the bay markings, but makes no provision for when the markings aren't visible.

So will the appeal be based on the offence not occurring because the bay markings were not visible, or should I word it differently?
Sorry, I missed your earlier comment.....What conditions on what sign and where is this sign?

Do not ignore that markings are extremely faded and there are no overt signs saying park in marked bays nor does the traffic order require in any meaningful sense.

Please see image here: https://ibb.co/KKHS0v8 section 2c.

Re: Harrow Council code 24 poor markings
« Reply #24 on: »
Tweaked response:

Dear Sirs,

We appeal as hirer. The PCN is issued incorrectly: the photos taken by the CEO clearly show shops adjacent to the parked car, and parked cars on both sides of the roadway with only space for single file traffic down the middle. The photos are consistent with a car being parked on The Broadway, Hatch End. Uxbridge Road in Hatch End is a busy A road with traffic flowing in both directions however the photos do not show the car being parked on Uxbridge Road, as the PCN alleges. We would therefore appreciate immediate cancellation of this PCN on the basis that the alleged contravention did not occur.
Further, the bay markings on The Broadway are extremely faded and aren’t recognisable. Bay markings are usually “T” or “L” shaped and placed to allow drivers to determine if they are parked in a bay or not. In this instance, with cars parked ahead and behind, the markings were completely concealed underneath vehicles and therefore rendering it impossible to know that they were there. Neither are there overt signs saying “park in marked bays”, nor does the Traffic Order require in any meaningful sense as there are no machines present associated to specific parking bays.

Yours faithfully,

Re: Harrow Council code 24 poor markings
« Reply #25 on: »
Thanks for the sign.
While they may point to it, signs still can only reflect the traffic order conditions and assuming CP found the correct one (good assumption) the order doesn't say it in that way.

I'm happier with the tweak BTW... I would lose the "hirer" part...irrelevant and does infer that you may have issues at NTO stage not being the Owner.
Which we may need to discuss if (probably will) they reject this representation.

Re: Harrow Council code 24 poor markings
« Reply #26 on: »
Thanks DD.

I'll remove the hirer part and send this in. I'll post the response once I receive it.

Re: Harrow Council code 24 poor markings
« Reply #27 on: »
Had to reduce to fit a 1000 character limit:

The CEO's photos show shops adjacent to the parked car, and parked cars on both sides of the roadway with only space for single file traffic down the middle. The photos are consistent with a car being parked on The Broadway, Hatch End. Uxbridge Road in Hatch End is a busy A road with traffic in both directions however the photos do not show the car being parked on Uxbridge Road, as the PCN alleges, therefore the alleged contravention didn't occur.
Further, the bay markings on The Broadway are extremely faded and aren’t recognisable. Bay markings are usually “T” or “L” shaped and placed to allow drivers to determine if they are parked in a bay or not. In this instance, with cars parked ahead and behind, the markings were concealed under cars, rendering it impossible to know that they were there. Neither are there overt signs saying “park in marked bays”, nor does the Traffic Order require in any meaningful sense as there are no machines present associated to specific parking bays.

Re: Harrow Council code 24 poor markings
« Reply #28 on: »
The 'conditions of use' sign has all the hallmarks of being in a car park, not on a road e.g. 'blue badge holders can park free of charge, motorcycles are not permitted to park in P&D bays etc.

Re: Harrow Council code 24 poor markings
« Reply #29 on: »
you were parked on the Broadway not Uxbridge rd
The traffic order described it as "The service road on the south side of Uxbridge Road, fronted by Nos. 339 to 523 Uxbridge Road", to borrow a phrase from Mr Teper, is that not good enough?

The schedule then says that there is a maximum of 15 spaces, so if the council then goes and paints 15 parking spaces in that parking place, it's hard to say they've done anything wrong as far as creating the bays & the restrictions.

The problem for the council is that the PCN doesn't say "The service road on the south side of Uxbridge Road", it just says "Uxbridge Road", so the contravention alleged on the face of the PCN did not occur.

Aside from that, the strongest point is likely to be that the council won't put in adequate evidence that it has properly communicated the requirement to park within an individual space, this is very much dependant on this photo not being included in any representations (I have seen cases before where the best photos of the signage are those submitted by the motorist, we really want to avoid that).

Have you already sent the representations? It's not the end of the world if you have, but if not we can refine them a little. There is no 1000 character limit as you can just put the representation in a PDF and upload it as an attachment.
I practice law in the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, London Tribunals, the First-tier tribunal for Scotland, and the Traffic Penalty Tribunal for Northern Ireland, but I am not a solicitor or a barrister. Notwithstanding this, I voluntarily apply the cab rank rule. I am a member of the Society of Professional McKenzie Friends, my membership number is FM193 and I abide by the SPMF service standards.

Quote from: 'Gumph' date='Thu, 19 Jan 2023 - 10:23'
cp8759 is, indeed, a Wizard of the First Order