3. PCN code 21: suspended parking bay: High Street, Tunbridge Wells
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PCN code 21: suspended parking bay: High Street, Tunbridge Wells
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Hi, first post so please be gentle...

I parked in a long bay on Tunbridge Wells High Street last week. There are a series of these very long bays, and you can park for 1 hour Mon-Sat, 8am-6pm. I've parked along this stretch many times.

There were no obvious signs, no cones, no works going on. I happened to be sitting in a cafe almost opposite the car after walking my dog, and saw a warden start to take photos of my car; I rushed out and said I hadn't been there an hour, and he pointed out the yellow suspension sign on one of the posts. There were no side arms, nothing to stand out; not all of the posts had a sign; and on the sign had been taped a sheet of white A4 paper with very small writing. When looking hard you could see the 2 days of suspension (every bay was full, only one ticket on one other car), and it referred to bays A-B (there is no signage to say there are specific bays numbered (etc). There was no indication of the purpose for the suspension- just another piece of white paper taped over the first, and some illegible scribbles.

I'm very, very stressed about this (we'd actually only gone there to calm me down about something else...).

So- do I pay and walk away (money is very tight...) accepting that even if it was not clear I was parked there then, or do I have valid grounds to appeal?

I would be very grateful for your assistance.

I can't sign up to the imgur site- I tried several routes including gmail.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/G1VuEkmXaGjRQKXs6

@cp8759

Thank you!

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Re: PCN code 21: suspended parking bay: High Street, Tunbridge Wells
« Reply #1 on: »
@ellamegansamuel I'm a bit confused by this case. I'm not saying we can't find some procedural avenue to get you out of this, but we always start with the contravention. You've said that "There were no obvious signs, no cones, no works going on", but the CEO's photos show what appears to be a perfectly clear sign right next to your vehicle:





Are you saying this sign wasn't there when you parked?

Did you check the sign when you parked or did you assume it would be OK to park for an hour because you'd parked there previously?
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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: PCN code 21: suspended parking bay: High Street, Tunbridge Wells
« Reply #2 on: »
I had parked there previously so knew the normal circumstances; I glanced at the other signs as I walked up (I didn't go round the back of the car) and there was nothing on the one I saw further up in the same bay. And when I did see the sign when the warden pointed it out, I was surprised that there was no purpose listed- my understanding was that this is required by legislation?
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Re: PCN code 21: suspended parking bay: High Street, Tunbridge Wells
« Reply #3 on: »
Where's the cafe exactly please?
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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: PCN code 21: suspended parking bay: High Street, Tunbridge Wells
« Reply #4 on: »
Caffè Nero, almost directly opposite
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Re: PCN code 21: suspended parking bay: High Street, Tunbridge Wells
« Reply #5 on: »
OK so draft a representation based on what you've told us: you parked, got out and had no reason to look back walked forwards towards the cafe and did not see any suspension signs on the timeplate you passed while walking between your car and the cafe. You might want to add a little map showing your route with respect to the signs.

Put the draft on here and we'll review it.
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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: PCN code 21: suspended parking bay: High Street, Tunbridge Wells
« Reply #6 on: »
@cp8759 is this ok?

I parked on this occasion as I had often done before in the long, undivided bays. I had no reason to go to the back of my car, so walked, initially across the road, then up the hill towards Hoopers. I glanced at the last parking timeplate sign as I went, still within this bay, and the sign was as normal with no suspension. Every space was parked with cars.
I then walked back to Caffè Nero and went in for a coffee, sitting almost opposite the car. One car had a ticket, and I assumed he had been there for longer than an hour; no other cars had tickets.
The traffic warden walked along, looked at the other cars, but when he got to mine he started taking photos. I came out of the cafe and explained I had been there for less than an hour, and at this point he pointed out the signs added to the posts saying there was a suspension.
On looking at the sign, there was a piece of white paper taped onto the yellow sign; in very small letters, hard to read, it said the times of the "suspension"; the location mentioned bays that do not correlate to the markings of the long bay; and there was no purpose stated.
There was nothing that clearly marked out anything different to the usual parking, the signage was unclear, and I do not believe that this complies with legislation; I therefore believe that this PCN should be voided.
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Re: PCN code 21: suspended parking bay: High Street, Tunbridge Wells
« Reply #7 on: »
@ellamegansamuel slightly revised draft:

Dear Tunbridge Wells Borough Council,

I parked on this occasion as I had often done before in the long, undivided bay. I had no reason to go to the back of my car, I walked forwards from my car and glanced at the parking timeplate as I went, the sign had no indication of a suspension and every space was filled with cars.

I then walked to Caffè Nero and went in for a coffee, sitting almost opposite the car. One car had a ticket, and I assumed he had been there for longer than an hour; no other cars had tickets.

The traffic warden walked along, looked at the other cars, but when he got to mine he started taking photos. I came out of the cafe and explained I had been there for less than an hour, and at this point he pointed out the signs added to the posts saying there was a suspension.

On looking at the sign, there was a piece of white paper taped onto the yellow sign; the location mentioned bays that do not correlate to the markings of the bay markings and the sign was flat rather than three-dimensional as parking suspension signs normally are.

If the timeplate ahead of my car had had a three-dimensional parking suspension sign there is no way I could have missed it, and I would have been alerted to the suspension.

There was nothing that clearly marked out anything different to the usual parking arrangements, the reason my car was parked where it was is ultimately because the local authority did not provide adequate notice of the suspension.

In the circumstances the contravention did not occur and the penalty charge should be cancelled.


Do not cut down the text, if it doesn't fit in the text box on the council website just put it in a PDF and upload it as an attachment. Also please take a screenshot of the confirmation page.
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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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