Parking ruling stands
Barnet & Potters Bar Times
By Alex Galbinski
Thursday 16th March 06
The ruling that effectively labels all Barnet Council's parking tickets invalid will not be overturned or reviewed, the parking and traffic appeals service (PATAS) said last week.
The council had asked PATAS to overturn the ruling in mid-February which said that two tickets given to motorist Hugh Moses in Golders Green were unlawful, partly due to the fact that council penalty charge notices (PCNs) do not state the date of issue of each ticket.
The council argued that its PCNs state the date of contravention tickets are issued when a contravention is spotted and that the decision would cause many of its PCNs to be regarded as non-compliant and unenforceable.
But Austin Wilkinson, PATAS's duty adjudicator, wrote last week: "I nevertheless find it a somewhat curious concept that a legal finding of a potentially widespread failure of compliance with statute in a penal system could possibly be regarded as unduly detrimental to good administration of the council and other London authorities'.
"Surely good administration commences with compliance with the law?"
Parking campaigner Barrie Segal, of web site AppealNow.com, which helps motorists fight incorrect or illegal parking tickets, believes that all the council's parking tickets can now be considered illegal' and not enforceable.
"The rejection document is one of the most important documents to be published in the history of parking," he said.
"The council argues on its web site that the decisions in the original two cases are one-offs and do not affect the validity of its other parking tickets. Yet in its submission to the adjudicator it astonishingly states that if it lost its appeal it would make many parking tickets issued by Barnet Council and other London authorities unenforceable."
Both the council and the Association of London Government (ALG), which funds PATAS, argue that the tickets are valid.
A council spokeswoman said: "We are surprised we didn't get an opportunity to explain our position to PATAS. We feel that a number of the points raised by PATAS are not relevant to our case and we are, therefore, dissatisfied with the decision.
"We are now discussing with our solicitors how the matter might best be further pursued."
The ALG's director of transport, environment and planning, Nick Lester, said: "All cases that come before the independent adjudicators are dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
"They are decided on the evidence provided for that individual case. No decision by an adjudicator sets a legal precedent for other cases."
Mr Segal argues that no parking adjudicator has ever contradicted a previous adjudicator's ruling.
By Alex Galbinski
Thursday 16th March 06
The ruling that effectively labels all Barnet Council's parking tickets invalid will not be overturned or reviewed, the parking and traffic appeals service (PATAS) said last week.
The council had asked PATAS to overturn the ruling in mid-February which said that two tickets given to motorist Hugh Moses in Golders Green were unlawful, partly due to the fact that council penalty charge notices (PCNs) do not state the date of issue of each ticket.
The council argued that its PCNs state the date of contravention tickets are issued when a contravention is spotted and that the decision would cause many of its PCNs to be regarded as non-compliant and unenforceable.
But Austin Wilkinson, PATAS's duty adjudicator, wrote last week: "I nevertheless find it a somewhat curious concept that a legal finding of a potentially widespread failure of compliance with statute in a penal system could possibly be regarded as unduly detrimental to good administration of the council and other London authorities'.
"Surely good administration commences with compliance with the law?"
Parking campaigner Barrie Segal, of web site AppealNow.com, which helps motorists fight incorrect or illegal parking tickets, believes that all the council's parking tickets can now be considered illegal' and not enforceable.
"The rejection document is one of the most important documents to be published in the history of parking," he said.
"The council argues on its web site that the decisions in the original two cases are one-offs and do not affect the validity of its other parking tickets. Yet in its submission to the adjudicator it astonishingly states that if it lost its appeal it would make many parking tickets issued by Barnet Council and other London authorities unenforceable."
Both the council and the Association of London Government (ALG), which funds PATAS, argue that the tickets are valid.
A council spokeswoman said: "We are surprised we didn't get an opportunity to explain our position to PATAS. We feel that a number of the points raised by PATAS are not relevant to our case and we are, therefore, dissatisfied with the decision.
"We are now discussing with our solicitors how the matter might best be further pursued."
The ALG's director of transport, environment and planning, Nick Lester, said: "All cases that come before the independent adjudicators are dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
"They are decided on the evidence provided for that individual case. No decision by an adjudicator sets a legal precedent for other cases."
Mr Segal argues that no parking adjudicator has ever contradicted a previous adjudicator's ruling.
posted by Neil Herron at 10:07 AM
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