21 May (Part 1) - Bexley council. Can’t it get anything right?
Last
week the parking issue was Bexley council’s failure to observe government
guidance on where to place a parking restriction sign; this week the error would
appear to be more serious.
At the Parking Appeals Service an Adjudicator noted that Bexley council has varied
the required form of words where it relates to loading bays. They have extended
exclusions to include all vehicles pulling trailers. So if you hitch a small
truck to the back of your car to allow you to pick up a bulky item you could be in
trouble. However the real issue is even more interesting.
Bexley council maintains that an MPV (Multi-Purpose Vehicle)
is not so multi-purpose that it allows the carriage of goods.
They therefore tried to fine the owner of a Vauxhall Zafira for stopping in a loading bay.
The Adjudicator ruled that it was irrelevant whether the vehicle was loading or not.
This being an appeal in which Notomob took a close interest, the homework had
been done well. They had measured the bay and found it did not conform to the
minimum dimensions (2,700mm width) required for a loading bay.
It was therefore a fairly easy victory for Notomob and once again Bexley council’s Parking
Manager, Tina Brooks is shown to be an over-paid liability.
Notomob may appear to have gone quiet in Bexley but things are definitely going
on in the background which are best not mentioned publicly at present, but I
imagine that Will Tuckley will be only too well aware of them. Will the fact
that in the past three years Bexley council extracted fines from 1,989 motorists who had parked in
loading bays with incorrect signs and road markings become another of his
headaches? A near certainty I would think.
Adjudicator’s deliberations.