sections merged - I think the order is correct ?
"POPLA comments – Rebuttal of operator’s evidence on relevant land and keeper liability
The operator has dumped 52 pages of photos of signs and machines. None of that matters unless they MUST first prove that this is “relevant land” for PoFA Schedule 4. That is the gateway issue POPLA MUST decide before looking at anything else. They have not proved it, so the rest of their bundle is irrelevant.
The operator’s central claim is that no byelaws have ever been made at Cornwall Airport Newquay. That is plainly wrong. Cornwall Airport Limited has published airport byelaws made under sections 63 and 64 of the Airports Act 1986. See:
https://www.cornwallairportnewquay.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/CAL-Airport-Byelaws-January-2017.-1-1.pdf.
Those byelaws include provisions regulating parking and vehicle use on the airport estate. That means parking on this land is subject to statutory control. Land subject to statutory control is not “relevant land” for the purposes of PoFA Schedule 4 paragraph 3. Because it is not relevant land, keeper liability cannot arise.
The operator’s “evidence” on this point is a self-ticked box in a private contract and a solicitor’s email. A private checkbox cannot override statute. A solicitor’s opinion (especially an incompetent one) is not statutory proof and, in any event, is contradicted by the airport’s own published byelaws. The burden of proof is on the operator to demonstrate that the land is relevant land under PoFA. They have not done so and cannot do so in the face of those byelaws.
The following clauses taken from the “Cornwall Airport Newquay, Airport Byelaws 2017, demonstrate clear statutory regulation of parking under the Airports Act 1986 and confirm that parking at Cornwall Airport Newquay is “subject to statutory control”.
- 5(12) No Waiting or Parking
Except in an emergency or to allow passengers to board or alight, no person shall cause or permit a vehicle to wait, stop or park:
(a) on any road, area, or place where waiting, stopping or parking is prohibited by notices;
(b) otherwise than in a parking area designated by the Airport Company;
(c) otherwise than in accordance with any instructions issued by the Airport Company or displayed on notices.
- 5(13) Parking Charges
No person shall leave a vehicle in a parking place without paying the appropriate charges for the period of parking.
-5(14) Parking and Airside Driving
No person shall park, drive, or operate any vehicle in any part of the Airport otherwise than in accordance with directions given by an authorised person or the Airport Company.
That alone is sufficient to prove the land is not relevant land for the purposes of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, and therefore no keeper liability can arise.I am the registered keeper and I have not identified the driver. With PoFA unavailable on this site, there is no lawful route to hold the keeper liable. That ends the matter. There is nothing else for POPLA to consider.
Separately, the operator’s Notice to Keeper states or implies keeper liability under PoFA at this airport location. That is a breach of the Private Parking Single Code of Practice (PPSCoP) section 8.1.1(d), which requires that operators MUST NOT state the keeper is liable under PoFA where they cannot be held liable.
Misstating PoFA also breaches their DVLA KADOE obligations, which require PPSCoP compliance as a condition of data access. I will be making separate complaints to the BPA and DVLA about these compliance failures.
Conclusion: The airport byelaws clearly demonstrate statutory control over parking at Cornwall Airport Newquay. The land is not relevant land for PoFA. The operator has not identified the driver. Keeper liability cannot apply. The appeal must be allowed.