@Pcngone1 absolutely do not pay as there is no contravention here. It is only a contravention for your vehicle to be parked adjacent to a lowered kerb and even then, only if that kerb is lowered for a statutory purpose. A kerb that only leads to a brick wall would not fulfill any of the criteria found in section
86 of the Traffic Management Act 2004.
The relevant case on this point is
Abigail Mendy v London Borough of Enfield (2160476330, 4 January 2017).
The CEO's photo shows that your car was wholly adjacent to a brick wall:
On top of that, your car was only over the sloping part of the kerb, which doesn't count for these purposes as per these cases:
Right Contract Services LTD v London Borough of Hillingdon (2160311942, 17 August 2016)Stephen Gibbons v London Borough of Newham (2160201751, 6 July 2016)Sara Whittingham v London Borough of Hounslow (2190042883, 13 March 2019)Joanne Bourne v Surrey County Council (YS00022-2212, 6 February 2023)In line with the first three of those decisions, if there were any intrusion over the dropped kerb of an inch or two, that would come within the bounds of a de-minimis contravention, though I wouldn't go into that at this stage as there is no clear evidence that there was even a de-minimis incursion.
Here is a draft representation:
Dear Birmingham City Council,
The alleged contravention did not occur, as my car was not parked adjacent to a kerb which had been lowered for any of the statutory purposes found in section 86 of the Traffic Management Act 2004. This is because the lowered kerb extends beyond the driveway of number 16 Wheeleys Road, such that none of the statutory criteria are met.
Furthermore my car was not adjacent to the lowered kerb, my car was adjacent to the sloping kerb that is not intended for the passage of vehicles, but instead creates a smooth transition from the raised kerb to the lowered kerb where there would otherwise have to be a sharp drop.
It follows that for these two reasons, there has been no contravention and the PCN must be cancelled.
Yours faithfully,
Send this online via the council website and keep a screenshot of the confirmation page. Don't worry if the council rejects with a standard fob-off letter, ultimately it's hard to see how you could lose this as long as you don't give in.
