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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Pre-Christmas RANT about traffic wardens and the Council

We live on Grand Parade. We park our car (with paid for permit) on Umfreville Road. We try not to use the car that much and had left it unchecked for three weeks or so.... in which time the Council painted new lines on the road to delineate a disabled parking bay... leaving our two front wheels 'encroaching' on said bay. FOUR parking tickets later 10th 11th 12th and 14th Dec the car was removed to the pound where we have just had to pay £550 to retrieve it... let alone the tickets. The neighbours (the disabled lady) even asked the traffic warden not to ticket us as we'd been parked there before the new lines were put down.

I am exceedingly angry and my partner hasn't stopped crying as it effectively quashes our usually bouncy Christmas spirit. OBVIOUSLY... we will fight.

In the meantime... can I take this opportunity to wish all members of this great site a merry Christmas. I'm going to sing carols and get pi**ed.

Jimbo

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Alison P on January 7, 2010 at 9:37
Yes, there was a discussion here, prompted by my experiences last year.

I did get a parking renewal letter this time (previously I hadn't, which - like Joe - meant I didn't renew my permit in time). John is right - don't rely on the Council to remind you, as they will not accept this as a legitimate reason for not remembering to buy a new permit. Be warned!
Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on January 7, 2010 at 10:03
And I thought, Joe, that Ray Dodds and I were Haringey Parking Service's sternest and most persistent critics. But plainly your experiences are worse.

As a Haringey councillor I've been arguing for some time that local councils - not just Haringey but across the country - take the wrong approach to "Penalty Charge Notices" (As they're euphemistically called, pretending they're not fines.) We should not be counting on lots of cash when people break the rules. Instead, the aim should be compliance ─ trying to get people to keep to the rules.

And I sympathise with your frustration when the Parking Service waives or cancels a ticket ─ but without giving the reason. Or without saying to the motorist: "You were right; please accept our apology". Again, this seems to be a feature shared with many other councils. And I'm sure it's linked to the issue of income. Council officers don't want hundreds of similar claims for repayment.

Having said that, I thought things were improving significantly in Haringey's Parking Service. So I'm disturbed to read the examples you give. They amount to very serious complaints about the service you and your friend got - or actually didn't get.

If you wish, I'll take these up formally on our behalf. Please let me know, and arrange for me to have details: names, dates, addresses, copies of letters and emails etc.
Permalink Reply by Malcolm on January 7, 2010 at 10:03
In a similar vein, I was stung for a box-junction offence on the (totally illegal) box junction outside the bus station on Philip Lane, long after the council knew (thanks Alan!) that it was illegal.

Luckily for me they'd messed up the paperwork and claimed I'd been on the High Road, which doesn't even have a box junction. The ticket was canceled, but only after an appeal and with no admission that the ticket wasn't even valid in the first place. I only found out that the box junction itself was illegal long after the event.

My experience is that the parking service are a wonderful mixture of incompetence and over-zealousness - the only good news is that more often than not it's possible to fight them and win.
Permalink Reply by maggie on January 18, 2010 at 13:02
Dear Alan,
I wrote as you suggested and have finally had the matter investigated and finalised within three weeks as opposed to three years. Typing errors from the council had led me to believe that I was owed £140, however it was £40 which I was happy to receive together with £50 compensation for all the time spent writing letters, visiting the office etc. I am really happy to draw a line under the matter.
Many thanks for your advice.
Permalink Reply by maggie on January 18, 2010 at 13:08
posted twice by mistake
Permalink Reply by Jimbo on February 4, 2010 at 9:46
Dear all,

Just to let you know, in case you were interested, we have been told at last that all tickets put on our car will be nullified and the £550 we paid out to get our car back from the pound just before Christmas will be returned. I will believe it when I see it but it looks like they have backed down.

Once the money turns up we will be after a written apology and maybe chase that 'additional payment' Alan mentioned. Thank you so much Alan.

Thanks to all of you who took the time to respond to my rant. I shall let you know what happens next in this thrilling episode of Council nastiness.

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