3. Reading Borough Council - Code 12 - Parking in a Permit Area - Challenge Rejected
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Reading Borough Council - Code 12 - Parking in a Permit Area - Challenge Rejected
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Hi,

I received a PCN for parking down my street for not having a permit displayed. I have a valid permit which I pay for however it appears that the permit became unstuck from the windscreen and fell to the floor. I drive the car very rarely so no idea when this happened but fortunately it looks like I've only received one PCN.

I appealed the PCN by sending them pictures of where the PCN came unstuck, the permit on the floor of my car and a close up of the permit so that they could see it was valid. I assumed common sense would prevail at this point but my appeal was rejected.

It's maddening that I've got a valid permit and there was nothing I could have done to predict that my permit would come unstuck.

I've now received the 'making representations' letter and I wanted to know the best way to respond?

I don't have the original ticket but all the forms / pictures I have are here: https://imgur.com/a/YYDryBb

Google link: https://goo.gl/maps/GjQoPj2kgEey5MJY8

Thank you for your help.
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Re: Reading Borough Council - Code 12 - Parking in a Permit Area - Challenge Rejected
« Reply #1 on: »
Can you please post both sides of the roadside PCN?

One obvious ground is the will / may flaw on the notice to owner, but it's best to use multiple grounds.

The traffic order appears to be The Borough of Reading (Hemdean Zone B) (Special Parking Area) (Waiting Restrictions and Parking Places) Consolidation Order 2006
« Last Edit: September 05, 2023, 12:10:51 am by cp8759 »
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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: Reading Borough Council - Code 12 - Parking in a Permit Area - Challenge Rejected
« Reply #2 on: »
Hi cp8759,

What do you mean by "Can you please post both sides of the roadside PCN?"

If you mean the original ticket I don't have that anymore unfortunately.

Thanks for your help.
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Re: Reading Borough Council - Code 12 - Parking in a Permit Area - Challenge Rejected
« Reply #3 on: »
I did mean the original PCN, it's unfortunate as they often give us the grounds to win at the tribunal.

Anyway, I think we need a two-pronged approach: mitigation, and the will / may issue. With a bit of luck they'll refuse one and fail to consider the other.

First things first though, have you previously had other PCNs cancelled under similar circumstances? Or is it the first time you've had this sort of issue?
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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: Reading Borough Council - Code 12 - Parking in a Permit Area - Challenge Rejected
« Reply #4 on: »
Everything that's needed is in the NTO i.e. will instead of may.

OP, it sounds like jargon, and it is. But this is a parking contravention and one of the grounds of representation is 'procedural impropriety'. In short, if they don't follow prescribed procedure and materially depart from what 'must' be stated in any of the formal penalty notices - the PCN and NTO - then they are likely to lose at tribunal.

Notice to owner

20.—(1) Where—

(a)a penalty charge notice has been given with respect to a vehicle under regulation 9, and

.....

(3) A notice to owner must, in addition to the matters required to be included in it under regulation 3(2) of the 2022 Appeals Regulations, state—

......

(g)that if, after the payment period has expired, no representations have been made under regulation 5 of the 2022 Appeals Regulations and the penalty charge has not been paid, the enforcement authority may increase the penalty charge by the applicable surcharge,

The NTO states 'will' increase if payment or reps are not made. Apart from anything else this is contradictory nonsense procedurally because in the same NTO they state(under Representations) that if reps are made outside the 28-day period they 'may be disregarded'. You cannot 'will' increase at the trigger event if at the same time you only 'may' disregard.

By the way, in what form does the permit come i.e. do you provide the holder and adhesive or do they? It would be nice to counter their 'the motorist must adhere to regulations' with 'and your b****y permit must adhere to the windscreen'!
« Last Edit: September 06, 2023, 06:07:29 pm by H C Andersen »
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Re: Reading Borough Council - Code 12 - Parking in a Permit Area - Challenge Rejected
« Reply #5 on: »
@cp8759 Yeah I wish I had kept it but lesson learned....

This is the first time I've had this issue. I have a track record of always paying for a permit.

@H C Andersen The permit they provide comes with the sticky back plastic to stick to the car windscreen. So yes they've failed to provide a permit that can withstand the heat without it coming unstuck.

So what should I do when I submit my grounds for representation?

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Re: Reading Borough Council - Code 12 - Parking in a Permit Area - Challenge Rejected
« Reply #6 on: »

Contravention did not occur.

The authority accept that there was a valid permit in the car, it's just that it and its holder had fallen off the windscreen. The only questions are therefore is someone at fault and if so who and should this give rise to a penalty charge?
The authority may not know that permits are supplied by the council together with holders whose conditions of use require the permit to be displayed, implicitly in the holder provided.
 
In this case, I displayed the permit in the holder provided and it was the adhesive of this holder which failed, probably due to hot weather. I accept that the council is in a tricky position in that its holders must be fit for purpose but that it cannot provide holders with superglue-like properties because these would indelibly mark windscreens.

On the day in question the council's holder failed and there was nothing that the driver could have done to prevent this happening. It would be unfair and unreasonable to hold the keeper liable for this failure.

The PCN must be therefore be cancelled.


Some thoughts.

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Re: Reading Borough Council - Code 12 - Parking in a Permit Area - Challenge Rejected
« Reply #7 on: »
Quote from: H C Andersen on September 07, 2023, 06:56:46 pm

Contravention did not occur.

The authority accept that there was a valid permit in the car, it's just that it and its holder had fallen off the windscreen. The only questions are therefore is someone at fault and if so who and should this give rise to a penalty charge?
The authority may not know that permits are supplied by the council together with holders whose conditions of use require the permit to be displayed, implicitly in the holder provided.
 
In this case, I displayed the permit in the holder provided and it was the adhesive of this holder which failed, probably due to hot weather. I accept that the council is in a tricky position in that its holders must be fit for purpose but that it cannot provide holders with superglue-like properties because these would indelibly mark windscreens.

On the day in question the council's holder failed and there was nothing that the driver could have done to prevent this happening. It would be unfair and unreasonable to hold the keeper liable for this failure.

The PCN must be therefore be cancelled.


Some thoughts.

I would remove the bit I highlighted red it really does no more than give the council something to grab hold of
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Re: Reading Borough Council - Code 12 - Parking in a Permit Area - Challenge Rejected
« Reply #8 on: »
Slight revision:

Dear Reading Borough Council,

The alleged contravention did not occur.

The authority accept that there was a valid permit in the car, it's just that it and its holder had fallen off the windscreen. The only questions are therefore is someone at fault and if so who and should this give rise to a penalty charge?
The authority may not know that permits are supplied by the council together with holders whose conditions of use require the permit to be displayed, implicitly in the holder provided.
 
In this case, I displayed the permit in the holder provided and it was the adhesive of this holder which failed, probably due to hot weather.

On the day in question the council's holder failed and there was nothing that the driver could have done to prevent this happening. It would be unfair and unreasonable to hold the keeper liable for this failure. It is ultimately the council's responsibility to provide a permit holder that is fit for purpose. The PCN must be therefore be cancelled.

Furthermore the Notice to Owner wrongly states that if no payment or representations are made, the penalty will increase by 50% and a charge certificate will be served. The regulations require the Notice to Owner to state that the authority may take these steps, thus indicating a discretion. The regulations do not permit the authority to state that these steps will be taken, as if that were a foregone conclusion. This is a procedural impropriety in light of which the PCN must be cancelled in any event.

Yours faithfully,

I suspect on the will / may issue the Notice of Rejection will provide a failure to consider, that then gives you an additional point for the tribunal. As I dislike Reading, I'll be happy to represent you at the tribunal if need be.
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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
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