I agree with 'Anonymous' that alternatives to Decriminalised Parking Enforcement need to be discussed and promoted and this is ongoing and has been mentioned on a number of occasions, but here are a few...
- remove all commercial interests, such as private contractors, whose main aim and ethos is to create profit. This will always lead to draconian enforcement practices and thereby create a wedge between the community and respect for fair enforcement.
- access to a court of law for dispute resolution is essential and the appeals process needs to be simple and transparent. The 'independent' parking adjudication service is neither independent nor competent and needs to be replaced.
- make ALL off-street car parks 'Pay on exit' so that the motorist pays for time used and can shop without the 'pay and display strees.'
- I agree with your observation of the parking chaos in the lane behind the Ivy House. It is mainly caused by workers from the Civic Centre taking up the 'free' on-street places rather than paying for the Civic Centre car park. Simple solution ... free parking in the Council car park for employees or make the car park pass mandatory to be deducted at source.
- the technology exists to make on-street pay and display meters into 'pay for time used' by using credit / debit card swipe machine OR shorten the period when pay and display is required ie. from 10am - 4pm to encourage early and late free parking in order to compete with the free out of town spaces.
Any more comments / suggestions will be appreciated. Decriminalised Parking Enforcement is not working and has been abused in hundreds of local authority areas. It is not going to survive...BUT the solution is most certainly not for local authorities to ignore the law and the correct processes. Those who have done and collected millions in fines therefore have a duty to act within the law.
As I have always said, the law is a two way street for both the authority and the motorist, and the local authorities cannot claim that they are above the law.
Finally, challenging the system in no way advocates irresponsible or inconsiderate parking.
Monday, November 13, 2006
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4 comments:
Let us not forget that the reason we have workers using 'free parking' is that dpe has actually created the problem in the first place.
Prior to DPE, one could park anywhere where yellow lines weren't used. Pre-DPE yellow lines were only used where an obstruction would have been dangerous; Now yellow lines have to be painted everywhere where a parking bay is not installed. In other words, the net result is that council's are able to charge for parking onstreet.
Again, the net result is that the system has been reduced from effective traffic management to a money making scam we have today.
This in not true. You are confusing DPE with CPZ controls. The first is an issue of how regulations are enforced, the second is how one manages parking in a busy environment. Yellow lines should only be there for traffic management purposes.
Read the DofT guidelines and you will find that it is you who is confused.
Not sure about the law being a 2 way street. The DVLA quite happily flouts the Data Protection Act by effectively selling Registered Keeper details to Parking Enforcement bodies. It claims it has to give the information to anyone with 'reasonable cause'. Reasonable cause seems to mean anyone appearing on their list of recognised companies. Who knows how these companies got registered - probably just need the word 'parking' somewhere in their letter heading. These firms pay their fee and the DVLA tells them all they want to know, without them ever having to prove that the subject of their enquiry has done anything to warrant the DVLA releasing the information.
That's just for starters. You just try having your day in court with the Inland Revenue. They don't have to go to court. They don't have to prove anything. They just send the bailiffs round. It's up to you to prove you are innocent. Been there and had to get the ombudsman involved before they admitted their mistake.
This country is nowt but a banana republic. Democracy died peacefully in its sleep and slipped away unnoticed years ago.
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