Free Traffic Legal Advice

Don't miss deadlines while trying to get extra information.
Send something within the 14 days and they will re-offer discount if they reject.
By the time that happens, you should have the added info to help make a decision

OP, you're only at the PCN stage and therefore the 'failure to consider' 'ambush'(my take, not a legal term) won't apply IMO.

If you include a link which you can later prove wasn't opened then at this point you would be at the NTO stage. And then what?

Formal reps saying "please consider my informal reps as my formal reps", which with a bit of luck will result in the same outcome.

Councils tell motorists to go onto onto a website to view evidence all the time, if that is acceptable it must work both ways. It's not really an ambush because to avoid any problems, the council just needs to do what it should be doing anyway i.e. consider the representations and any supporting evidence.

If for argument's sake you send a DVD in the post or a sealed envelope with some photos and you had a telescopic camera that could see into the council offices, and you filmed the council officer opening the post and throwing said evidence in the bin without looking at it at all, would that be considered an "ambush"? Because what we're talking about here is the digital equivalent of doing exactly that.

Afternoon

Can anyone help with my enquiry below please?  As well, does anyone know if and how I can apply for a FOI for the number of PCNs given at this each spot over a period of time?

Thanks guys.

Deb

Exact copy of email sent

Good morning

I hope you're having a good week.

As you can see from the above, I received a PCN on 21 October, where I'd parked my car to attend a football match at the Etihad Stadium.

Before losing my father in 2020, when we parked at the Stadium with his Blue Badge as he was disabled, I have sought to park as close to the Stadium as possible (as I too suffer from arthritis and breathlessness due to blood clots in my lungs).  I always try to get a parking space at the stadium but they're always sold out.  I have noticed over the past 3 years that at least 4/5 cars have parked where I parked on this day, without penalty.  As I arrived very early on this day to the game and there was space, I legitimately expected to park here, as parking has always been tolerated here during match days and PCNs not enforced.

I'm writing to ask if you'll kindly cancel the above parking charge, and afford me the allowance of now being made aware that parking here isn't tolerated and I can observe this in future.

I hope your response will be favourable.

Yours faithfully

Thank you cp8759.

What's a 'Notice to Owner'please? I'm conscious that I've only got until Monday 27 November to pay the reduced fine, and can ill afford the full penalty fee.

Sorry to be a nuisance.  One of the other options I'd thought of, was requesting a FOI request to establish how many parking tickets had been issued at that spot since I had been? Although this would be at a cost to me, and the time to get the information would probably be months.

Thanks again for all your help with this.  It's been a godsend to me.

Deb

Good afternoon cp8759.

I've received my Notice to Owner today (copy attached).  I've read the links you very kindly sent me last time.  The example of the disabled gentleman driving over the bridge in Merseyside was brilliant.

You've mentioned to me in previous communications about approaching strategy being failure to consider evidence and incorporating a count/counter view?  I have to be honest, I've no idea how to do that at all.  And also if there are any examples I may refer to to put together my challenge?

And lastly, from the Tribunal info, would the appeal be for 'a procedural impropriety by the authority' or a 'compelling reason', should my case get to that stage?

Thanks cp8759.

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Good morning

So, an update on my PCN.  I duly appealed to MCC with the following:

Dear Sir/Madam

I received a parking ticket on 21 October 2023. The place where I parked, has been used for parking for years without penalty. And it is for this reason that I would like to submit an appeal.

I have parked in this place twice since 2020 for the purpose of attending a football match. Once before this occasion, when the PCN 27 was issued. Up until that point, I would park at the Stadium as my father was eligible for parking due to his disability. Sadly, I lost my father in May 2020. The Stadium do offer limited parking and to-date I have not been successful in securing a parking space as they sell very quickly when they go online.

For many years I have noted that 4/5 cars have parked in this space without penalty. On 21 October, I arrived at the Stadium incredibly early and decided to park there as there was an available spot. I sat and read my book for a couple of hours in my car, during which time four other cars parked up too.

On the PCN I have been issued, it says that I parked in a location that states, ‘No Waiting at Any Time.’  But there is no signage to indicate this? I have attached a photo of the only blank sign that is there. And there was also an assumption that parking was allowed there as there is a big mound of dirt right across the road that clearly makes the road inaccessible/unusable.

I am a law bidding citizen and now understand that I made an honest mistake. And as I mentioned in my initial appeal, now that I am aware that parking in this spot is not permitted, I will make alternative arrangements. And sadly, as I am currently unemployed and in receipt of only Universal Credit, I cannot afford the fine.

I do hope that upon reviewing my mitigating circumstances, you will reconsider your decision and waive the fine.

Yours faithfully

Miss Deborah L Evans


Sadly they have chosen to reject my appeal and yesterday I received the attached.  I believe they haven't considered my mitigating circumstances at all.  They have also ever given me the opportunity to pay the discounted rate, apart from when the PCN was issued in the first instance.

The advice I seek now from you good folk is, do I have a case I can put forward and appeal to an independent judicator or do I now have to pay the £70?

Really hope someone can help?

Many thanks

Deb



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The full NOR pl, you've only posted the first page. We need to see it in full to check whether they've complied with procedure which can be as persuasive at adjudication as substantive issues regarding the contravention.