Free Traffic Legal Advice

On Wednesday the 17th of April. I parked in Bluebell Lane car park in Penrith. https://maps.app.goo.gl/423F6XMeEwgKKkAaA  I went to the only meter to pay, it was covered up. There was a notice . Picture below

https://www.flickr.com/photos/200628771@N08/53680000536/in/dateposted-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/200628771@N08/53680363104/in/dateposted-public/

I thought the public notice was a little unclear and wasn't aware of any special parking arrangements but I just assumed charges did not apply until 19/4
I received a parking ticket .  Picture below
https://www.flickr.com/photos/200628771@N08/53680462865/in/dateposted-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/200628771@N08/53680463080/in/dateposted-public/

I took a photograph of the machine and the notice and sent these together with my informal challenge.
I have now received a letter rejecting my challenge.  Picture below
https://www.flickr.com/photos/200628771@N08/53680001066/in/dateposted-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/200628771@N08/53680000526/in/dateposted-public/

There is no other machine in this car park. However, on the other side of a public road, there is another car park which I have never used. There's a different entrance. So I always considered them two separate car parks. Have I got grounds for a further challenge?

I posted it already.  First link is google maps, then 2 photos.  2nd photo is the "public notice "

Well, first off, their letter is correct in stating there is more than one machine, because here it is: -
https://maps.app.goo.gl/mFXofFz64Qafv94Z8
You can see the car park name is the same as the one you took photos of. So what appears to be two separate car parks is actually a single named car park.

As for the sign, I am puzzled why you took the letter as meaning payment was not needed, because it doesn't say that. 

However, their letter is quite disingenuous, because any normal visitor would assume there were two separate car parks. Just covering up a ticket machine without giving any notice of where another might be located is also dreadfully bad practice, bearing in mind the other machine is not visible from the one you went to.

The main point now, is whether you feel sufficiently aggrieved enough to stand your ground and take the matter all the way to adjudication at the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT). This would mean foregoing the discount, waiting for the Notice to Owner, (sent to the name and address on the V5 Registration Certificate for the car), submitting a formal representation, getting rejected, then registering an appeal at the TPT. Appeals at the TPT are mostly by phone, but there is now a remote video facility offered.

https://www.trafficpenaltytribunal.gov.uk/

My own opinion is that going to adjudication would be something of a gamble, but others may differ so wait a bit and see what they say.

.which rather fits with this which I drafted while you were posting:


I think an argument to the effect that you interpreted the combination of notice and covered machine as meaning that the council had suspended parking charges in the car park as a means of replacing lost and free on-street capacity due to the 'gas works' is worth advancing if indeed this is what you inferred from the context.

But it's difficult to do this if initial reps have put forward an alternative and contradictory position.

So, your initial reps pl and confirm who is the registered keeper and whether their DVLA details are current.

It should be borne in mind that the conditions of parking are those conveyed in the car park itself and not any other medium.

MMV and I have posted the council/local newspaper references and these set the general context. But it's what's in the car park which counts.

With respect, I think the two or one car parks and there being another machine, which may or may not have also had a hood placed over it, we don't know*, are secondary if the OP is advancing the argument that the hood (which did NOT indicate out of order but tothe driver that it was not to be used...because payment was not required by virtue of the 'special car parking arrangements' referred to in the notice = no charge argument because this doesn't impose any requirement upon the OP to look elsewhere.

But if the OP simply claimed in their initial reps that the machine wasn't working and did not develop this within the context of the notice then IMO their challenge is made more difficult.

OP, pl post your initial reps and confirm the details about the registered keeper.

*- simple answer could be that the council actually covers the machine(s) to prevent drivers paying and whoever was supposed to do so failed to remove it/them after end of charging hours (6pm)the day before. 

Basically, I said that I had gone to the meter to pay but finding it covered and seeing the notice beside it I assumed that payments were suspended until Friday 19th April.  I was unaware of any special parking arrangements.

Therefore you can either pay the discount now or wait for the NTO and make formal reps which even if unsuccessful would probably elicit a further offer of the discounted penalty.

As far as we know, the facts are simple:

You parked and consulted the Ts and Cs and tariff board.
The main board displayed the charging hours and tariff and stated that the car park was pay and display only.
A notice which carried the council letterhead was placed in a prominent position on this board.
Adjacent to the board was a ticket machine which was wholly covered and which prevented drivers from obtaining a ticket. The cover did not carry any message.
You left your vehicle without purchasing and displaying a ticket.
A PCN was issued which alleged the contravention of failing to display a pay and display ticket.

Superimposed on the above is:
You read the notice and interpreted its meaning in the context of the covered machine and concluded that their combined purpose was to modify the terms and conditions of parking, referred to by the council in the notice as 'special parking arrangements', in sich a way as to not require payment for parking.
You reasoned that the council had decided to permit free parking, perhaps to compensate for lost free on-street parking capacity ln the highways disrupted by the gas works.
The council's response to your initial reps was that the terms were clear as per the board. They have ignored their Public Notice and its wording.

Formal reps would require them to address this issue.

I rarely look at facebook but someone drew my attention to the Penrith facebook page which has a post about this car park.  Seems machine is actually out of order and several people have been fined not realising the machines in the car park over the road counted for payment.  These posts are later than mine so no reference to the public notice.  Interesting

@Parky24 personally I would take this all the way. All the council needed to do is put a sheet of A4 up saying "use the car machine in the part of the car park on the other side of Bluebell Lane - do not leave the car park without buying a ticket" and the matter would have been put beyond doubt.

We've seen plenty of cases where people have wandered to a nearby machine only to find out that it wasn't the right machine for the car park they were parked it, and local authorities can't play a game of "heads I win, tails you lose".