Our neighbour David Williams recently went into battle about the numerous unfair parking fines that landed on neighbours bewildered by the unclear parking suspension notices scattered around the street to facilitate the current (and very welcome/overdue) pavement works. He finally received some good news via Cllr Jim Dickson and reports as follows:
Dear neighbours, apologies for the tedious flow of emails about parking; hopefully this will be the last!
Councillor Jim Dickson – with whom I’ve been in touch over the daft issuing of fines, on behalf of Fawnbrake residents – has received some good news, despite our initial challenges to Lambeth being turned down.
It’s self-explanatory, and he’s asked me to spread the word, so here it is:
Dear Cllr Dickson,
Further to my ME response yesterday I have continued to look into the suspensions and resulting PCNs on Fawnbrake Avenue, as I am aware a number of customers have been affected.
I can now confirm that any PCN cases which are still open will be cancelled.
This is because we accept that the multiple suspensions on the street may have caused confusion, coupled with the fact that the nature of the street furniture on Fawnbrake Avenue (to which we affixed the suspensions) means the information may have been inconsistently displayed.
We are currently investigating the feasibility of mobile posts to affix signs to, so that in the future information is more clearly displayed.
Kind regards,
James
James Edlin
Performance and Development Officer
Environment
7th Floor, Blue Star House
Well done, David! But I guess we should continue to be vigilant, and prudent where we park. Lambeth may now improve the accuracy of their parking suspension notices as the work proceeds along the road.
A well argued case, Alan. If they want hide behind sloppy wording, they should expect us to pick it apart.
Pat @ No 81
This is a bit late – I’ve been away for 6 weeks and only just joined the blog.
The morning we left to go on holiday, I discovered that I had a PCN for parking in a suspended bay. It was issued at 07.42 on 6 February. My first challenge was rejected – they said that the suspension applied from 08.00 on 5 February right through to 18.00 on 11 February. I responded as follows:
——————————————
“Your record might show that the suspension started at 08:00 on the 5th of February and ended on 11th, and that it was 24 hours enforcement, but the notice posted on the street doesn’t make that clear. That notice says:
Start date: 5th February 2018
End date: 11th February 2018
From: 08.00 to 18.00
– which I reasonably interpeted as meaning that parking was suspended between 08.00 and 18.00 on each of those days.
(Just as, for example, a sign that says residents only Mon-Fri 12.00-14.00 does not mean that the restriction applies from 12.00 on Monday right through the rest of Monday, all day Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday up until 14.00).
When you write that you understand the circumstances, do you mean that you understand why I interpreted the sign the way I did? In other words, you agree that it is misleading?
I suggest that in future you change your signs so that they make it clear that the suspension starts at 08.00 on the first day and continues without a break until 18.00 on the last day.
I shall contest the issue of the PCN because the sign was unclear.”
———————————
I still haven’t had a response to this but am encouraged by the reports that all such PCNs will be cancelled.
I am posting now because I note that Lambeth have indeed changed the wording of the suspension notices to make it clearer that the suspension is in force 24 hours a day. As my neighbour Louise says, we can expect Lambeth to enforce these suspensions rigorously…