Sunderland parking shambles... crisis grows

The latest news featured on BBC's Look North last night with the Council quoted as saying that 'when we identify mistakes we put them right...'

Now let us examine this a bit further:

A mistake?
Sunderland Council told the DfT that everything had been done. All lines, signs and TROs.
We can accept an odd broken line, missing sign or the odd inconsistency in a Traffic Order BUT what we are witnessing here is a shambles on a scale that beggars belief.

Now we reveal that the Council asked for authorisation for specific signs in Park Lane Shopping Village Controlled Parking Zone ... to operate dual purpose bays ( loading and parking or loading / taxi bays).

They were allowed the authorisation BUT it came with certain conditions. One condition was that there must be no loading only legend on the highway.

Now if you check:
Derwent Street
Olive Street
Mary Street and
Park Lane
you will see that there is a legend on the highway, therefore invalidating the special authorisation.

There is no legal restriction so no contravention could occur.

Now go back to the statement ... 'when we identify mistakes we put them right...' the bit they have missed off is ... and everyone fined illegally at these locations will be entitled to their money back because if there was no legal bay then it was free parking. No-one had any authority to demand a £30 fine.

Now check the loading bays at these locations. Some are only 2m wide, some less.

In the backlanes they actually cross the pavements encouraging motorists to park illegally (ie. on the path) or park out of the bay causing an obstruction.:
Back Olive Street
Back Derwent Street (N and S)
Back Albion Place

The Council cannot do as it pleases with regard to signing.

It must do as the law requires. It has not done so at these and many other locations.

More will be revealed including what the Government Office of the North East and the Department for Transport told them... but here is a taster below...

The story on the TV last night mentioned the words 'entrapment' and 'a nice little earner.'
Not my words but the words of a Government official.

Sunderland has been using loading bays which do not conform to the minimum width requirements of 2.7m.

Have you been fined in one of these bays?

The Park Lane Village CPZ requires ALL the signs and lines to be correct before it can come into force ... this little case study above is just a fraction of the evidence that has been compiled so far ... and there is much, much more.

In the Newcastle Journal the Chief Executive stated that they became aware of the narrow bays in Holmeside in the 2006 review in January.

THE BAYS WERE NOT CHANGED UNTIL NOVEMBER!!!

AND THEN IT WAS DUE TO THE FACT THAT WE SENT THE PHOTOGRAPHS TO THE DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT.

ENFORCEMENT HAD CONTINUED IN BAYS WHICH WERE ONLY 1.5M WIDE!!! (I know because I received a ticket, photographed it and then photographed the restrcition again after NCP had removed it after being instructed by the Council. The Council claimed it was because the signs had been stolen...but they were in both photographs! That weekend the bays were remarked).

THE BAYS WERE ALSO DANGEROUS AS FURTHER UP THE STREET THEY ENCOURAGED MOTORISTS TO PARK BEHIND ZIG ZAGS AT A PELICAN CROSSING !!!

If you have you been fined in Holmeside?

Check out this link here