Pay and dismay: The £2.3m parking fines
LEWIS HANNAM
Norwich Evening News
Parking attendants issued fines totalling more than £100,000 in two city streets in the past year as they slapped tickets worth a potential £2.3 million on
drivers.
A massive £100,140 worth of fines were dished out in Colegate, while £106,800 were slapped on vehicles in Prince of Wales Road.
The huge fines have been criticised by businesses as an unfair tax on the city's economy, with some bosses accusing attendants, who are employed by Norwich City Council, of targeting the city when major events are on.
The city council says the fines are needed to keep the city's busy streets flowing, and benefit road-users as a whole.
James Sawrey-Cookson, a director of the Last Wine Bar restaurant in St George's Street, which adjoins Colegate, said: “It is a disgrace. It's entirely evident these parking attendants know when a big event is on at the Norwich Playhouse, Blackfriars Hall or St Andrews Hall and they come down and hunt in packs.
“You can go weeks without seeing them and then five of them will turn up one night - they will be mob-handed and ticket-happy.”
The fines handed out by parking attendants are £60 each, with a 50 per cent reduction for offenders who pay up within 14 days.
Mr Sawrey-Cookson said: “People come to this area of the city as an alternative place to Riverside for a night out.
“They are now being penalised with a extra £60 fine on top of their night out.
"The council has residents' parking in this area but it should change those rules.”
Norwich City Council enforces parking regulations through its 32 parking attendants - a year ago there were 28.
Jane Moloney, office manager at the Norwich Playhouse, which is also in St George's Street, said: “There does seem to be a contradiction between the council's policy of encouraging people to visit Norwich and these parking fines.
“The parking attendants certainly know when we have an event on and they come round and check when there's a ticketing opportunity.
“The signs are unclear as well between what is a permit parking area and what isn't, and that is another factor.”
Aside from the two £100,000 streets, the 2005/6 figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show other heavily ticketed areas including: Cathedral Street £66,240, St Benedict's £51,720 and St Peter's Street £49,200.
In 2004/5, a total of £800,000 was paid by motorists who had been given parking fines in the city. The figures for the past year show that more than £2.3m in fines have been issued in total by parking attendants in Norwich.
The city council is keen to stress that the 2005/6 figures only relate to the total number of £60 fines issued and that the actual amount the council received in revenue from the fines would be reduced by early payments (at £30) and successful appeals.
But even if everyone has paid their fines at a discounted fee - and some have been successful on appeal - the number of fines has gone up.
The council says this is likely to be down to the longer enforcement hours it has given to its parking attendants to implement parking regulations.
A staff member at Beeline and Dolphin Taxis in Prince of Wales Road, a street with a total of 1,780 fines issued in 2005/6, said: “I think a lot of people leave their cars overnight when they have been out drinking and find tickets on them in the morning.
“It is a difficult situation for us because we are running a taxi firm in the road, but the parking attendants are normally fair and warn us.”
The council insists its parking attendants are not offered salary-related incentives to hand out more tickets.
The money collected from fines is passed on to Norfolk County Council for road improvements and safety measures.
If you ignore the £60 fine, you are eventually hit with a 50pc hike in the fee to £90. If you still refuse to pay up or appeal unsuccessfully, the fine can be dealt with by bailiffs.
A spokesman for the city council said: “The role of parking attendants is to enforce parking restrictions.
“Fines are issued as a way of enforcing traffic regulation orders which are there for the benefit of all highway users. If they are not implemented it could cause a hazard or great inconvenience.
“Norwich is a busy city, and we need to keep the streets flowing.”
Adrian Ramsay, leader of the Green Party group at City Hall, said: “Parking fines are necessary to enforce rules relating to parking, but the Green Party councillors would like to see the money raised from the fines put into road safety measures.”
What do you think of the parking situation in Norwich?
Write to Evening News Letters, Prospect House, Rouen Road, Norwich, NR1 1RE, e-mail eveningnewsletters@archant.co.uk or visit www.eveningnews24.co.uk/forums
Norwich Evening News
Parking attendants issued fines totalling more than £100,000 in two city streets in the past year as they slapped tickets worth a potential £2.3 million on
drivers.A massive £100,140 worth of fines were dished out in Colegate, while £106,800 were slapped on vehicles in Prince of Wales Road.
The huge fines have been criticised by businesses as an unfair tax on the city's economy, with some bosses accusing attendants, who are employed by Norwich City Council, of targeting the city when major events are on.
The city council says the fines are needed to keep the city's busy streets flowing, and benefit road-users as a whole.
James Sawrey-Cookson, a director of the Last Wine Bar restaurant in St George's Street, which adjoins Colegate, said: “It is a disgrace. It's entirely evident these parking attendants know when a big event is on at the Norwich Playhouse, Blackfriars Hall or St Andrews Hall and they come down and hunt in packs.
“You can go weeks without seeing them and then five of them will turn up one night - they will be mob-handed and ticket-happy.”
The fines handed out by parking attendants are £60 each, with a 50 per cent reduction for offenders who pay up within 14 days.
Mr Sawrey-Cookson said: “People come to this area of the city as an alternative place to Riverside for a night out.
“They are now being penalised with a extra £60 fine on top of their night out.
"The council has residents' parking in this area but it should change those rules.”
Norwich City Council enforces parking regulations through its 32 parking attendants - a year ago there were 28.
Jane Moloney, office manager at the Norwich Playhouse, which is also in St George's Street, said: “There does seem to be a contradiction between the council's policy of encouraging people to visit Norwich and these parking fines.
“The parking attendants certainly know when we have an event on and they come round and check when there's a ticketing opportunity.
“The signs are unclear as well between what is a permit parking area and what isn't, and that is another factor.”
Aside from the two £100,000 streets, the 2005/6 figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show other heavily ticketed areas including: Cathedral Street £66,240, St Benedict's £51,720 and St Peter's Street £49,200.
In 2004/5, a total of £800,000 was paid by motorists who had been given parking fines in the city. The figures for the past year show that more than £2.3m in fines have been issued in total by parking attendants in Norwich.
The city council is keen to stress that the 2005/6 figures only relate to the total number of £60 fines issued and that the actual amount the council received in revenue from the fines would be reduced by early payments (at £30) and successful appeals.
But even if everyone has paid their fines at a discounted fee - and some have been successful on appeal - the number of fines has gone up.
The council says this is likely to be down to the longer enforcement hours it has given to its parking attendants to implement parking regulations.
A staff member at Beeline and Dolphin Taxis in Prince of Wales Road, a street with a total of 1,780 fines issued in 2005/6, said: “I think a lot of people leave their cars overnight when they have been out drinking and find tickets on them in the morning.
“It is a difficult situation for us because we are running a taxi firm in the road, but the parking attendants are normally fair and warn us.”
The council insists its parking attendants are not offered salary-related incentives to hand out more tickets.
The money collected from fines is passed on to Norfolk County Council for road improvements and safety measures.
If you ignore the £60 fine, you are eventually hit with a 50pc hike in the fee to £90. If you still refuse to pay up or appeal unsuccessfully, the fine can be dealt with by bailiffs.
A spokesman for the city council said: “The role of parking attendants is to enforce parking restrictions.
“Fines are issued as a way of enforcing traffic regulation orders which are there for the benefit of all highway users. If they are not implemented it could cause a hazard or great inconvenience.
“Norwich is a busy city, and we need to keep the streets flowing.”
Adrian Ramsay, leader of the Green Party group at City Hall, said: “Parking fines are necessary to enforce rules relating to parking, but the Green Party councillors would like to see the money raised from the fines put into road safety measures.”
What do you think of the parking situation in Norwich?
Write to Evening News Letters, Prospect House, Rouen Road, Norwich, NR1 1RE, e-mail eveningnewsletters@archant.co.uk or visit www.eveningnews24.co.uk/forums
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