Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi All

I need to make reps on this by the end of play on Tuesday 2nd April. I had another PCN (on this same road but at the other end of the road) so was working on that appeal hence leaving this one a bit later than planned!

Below are details of the PCN:

PCN

Council Image 1

Council Image 2

Council Video Footage

I turned onto Holmesdale Road from Oliver Grove and drove down quite a significant stretch of Holmesdale Road. Near the end of this road, not far from the junction, there are regulatory signs for the prohibited vehicles which I didn't see at the time (appreciate this is my fault) and so I was issued a PCN.

However, my question would be, I have crossed this alleged threshold but am essentially approaching the junction (of Holmesdale Road and Park Road) so where exactly is the Healthy Neighbourhood Zone that I have breached by entering? Across Park Road, the next section of Holmesdale Road is blocked off so essentially is the 'zone' a tiny red box at the junction of Holmesdale Road continuing across Park Road and then stopping at the physical barrier across the junction at the next part of Holmesdale Road?

I have annotated my route on this map with a purple line and marked a red rectangle to show what appears to be the Healthy Neighbourhood Zone.

Can anyone see flaws and/or grounds upon which I could appeal?

Thanks in advance

@RS123 I can't see any obvious issues, I have found the map tile at https://store.traffweb.app/croydon/documents/parkmap/msched/N14_rv2_2.pdf and the signs seem to be located where they should be.

This is the sort of case where I'd suggest the strategy of last resort described here.

Do you have any mitigation we could use?

Thank you @cp8759. In terms of mitigation, I am currently going through a divorce (with children involved). The 'Conditional Order' was going in front of a judge on 15th March and this alleged contravention happened on 13th March; I don't know if that would be considered mitigating...

At the same time, I would like to make some reps on the basis of:

1) Inadequate signage

- A single warning sign has been placed on the left hand side of the road only (as opposed to on both sides of the road), next to a cycle storage unit and there are a number of parked vehicles so, with all of this to consider, the sign could easily be missed.

- The regulatory signs themselves on the approach to the junction of Holmesdale and Park Road are confusing. Given that one is approaching a junction, one would not expect to be entering a restricted zone. In addition, as bollards are visible across the junction, one might think that the restricted zone being referred to is the section (continuation) of Holmesdale Road located across the junction, rather than the small section of Holmesdale Road leading up to the junction.

2) Purpose of the signage is redundant

Which 'zone' are the regulatory signs meant to be demarcating? Essentially the council has put up an isolated a regulatory sign to create a line in the road near the junction with another busy road, thereby generating revenue on the basis of creating a 'healthy neighbourhood' the extent of which is a section of road a few metres long and wide.

I would argue that there is no protected zone since the signs are almost at the junction of Holmesdale Road and Park Road, and therefore the traffic management reasons for the signage are defunct. There is an isolated sign near the top of Holmesdale Road, which has no overall purpose certainly not the one dictated by the Traffic Order.

3) The PCN is defective

The Contravention Code is required to have a suffix indicating which vehicles are prohibited. Since it does not, a procedural error is apparent and the PCN is null and void.


Any advice on what I am thinking of putting forward tomorrow would be appreciated.

Do you have any supporting paperwork regarding your conditional offer going before the judge?

You can do both, but I'd suggest putting them in a file share and then setting up a link with a click counter, so you can determine whether the council has actually looked at them. Do you know how to do that, or would you like me to set the links up for you?

I'd only put the supporting evidence in a file share, rather than the text of the representation itself. I'll drop you a PM.

This?: http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=153778&pid=1812293&mode=threaded&start=#entry1812293

Fantastic, thanks so much. I hadn't been notified of that response so hadn't seen it until you pointed it out.