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Hi all

Recently received a £110 (/£55) PCN for "Parking in a residents' or shared use parking space without clearly displaying a permit or voucher" in West Drayton, from Hillingdon Council, whilst dropping off a passenger and some belongings.

My vehicle was stopped for around 15 mins during this period. The signage had changed this very same week, from free parking during the weekend to permit holder at all times, hence I wasn't in a rush.

My informal appeal on the grounds of loading/unloading was rejected on the grounds that no loading/unloading was observed in the 6 minute observation period (14:47-14:53). The evidence provided is some pictures of my vehicle, PCN attached, all taken within one minute (14:53)

Is it worth going for a formal appeal with this or do I just save myself some headache by paying it and getting on with life...

PCN and informal appeal response below:





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How did you know what was in force before and when and did you reference this in your challenge.

The loading exemption would need firm evidence to cover the observation period.

I know simply because I picked the same passenger up earlier in the week and have done so occasionally in the past.

I agree with your point around evidence, I can't really think of anything meaningful I'd be able to provide unfortunately, which might make a formal appeal a waste of time... The best I can do would be to rationalise the delayed return to the vehicle on accounts of the fact I was assuming I didn't have to rush, but that's on me I suppose!

A lesson in never assuming something is the same today as it was yesterday.

But is this a permit parking area with entry signs? I can't make out bays in the pics.

There are indeed entry signs - I spotted their new timings the next day!

I'm not sure about the bays - would that have any bearing?

A permit parking area doesn't have resident bays but can have signed bays for other purposes. The sign pictured by the CEO is a repeater sign.

So are the entry sign(s) clear on your approach to the PPA?

Some councils would allow some grace period/first time in not clocking a new restriction like this.

Thank you so much for your prompt help thus far. I believe they're on both sides of the road upon entry from a busy main road, easy to miss in a rush but they are there. My priority, though, tends to be avoiding hitting pedestrians in that area versus checking for any signage changes!

There's two different entry points to the area I parked althogugh I should imagine they've both been updated.

See if you can get a pic of the entry point signs - I can see they extended the scheme to 10pm but not sure if it's a controlled parking zone or PPA. It was a CPZ.

Shall do so later today as I'll be nearby. Thank you!

So it's not a PPA but a CPZ - which means all kerbsides must be clearly marked either by yellow lines or parking bays and the resident bays must have good well-spaced signs.

I've looked at Google Maps and it's from last July and the bays and signs look OK so unlikely to be anything - I just couldn't see bay markings in the council pics.

You could check the markings and that they've changed all the bay signs near where you were to 10pm.

But clutching at straws.

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5091798,-0.4723756,3a,75y,247.67h,66.86t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s5BG2svwEzRvO_rQe1YedTw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D23.138625055329214%26panoid%3D5BG2svwEzRvO_rQe1YedTw%26yaw%3D247.66830510407254!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDEyMi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

OP, pl read this Key Case from the tribunal: https://www.londontribunals.gov.uk/sites/default/files/keycases/Wanambwa%2C%20exemptions%2C%20unloading%20alighting%20distinction%20edited%20version.pdf

IMO, you're on the wrong tack with 'unloading'. You parked and your passenger alighted.

So, why did this require you to be away from the car for, in your words, 15 minutes? What was it about the passenger and their circumstances that required you to be away from the car for at least 6 minutes?

Hi - in truth I was simply wrong to assume the restrictions hadn’t changed. I dropped my passenger off, had a brief conversation then walked back to the car… it felt like the right thing to make sure she got in ok and help with bags.

I’d wrongly assumed 10 minutes wasn’t that excessive a time to be away from my vehicle in this instance, and hence wasn’t rushing. It’s just frustrating!

I think realistically my easiest option is just to pay it in this instance and forget it - there’ll be plenty more PCNs to fight in the future I’m sure!

Appreciate everyone’s help. Thanks for all that you do.