Don’t give in to council’s bully-boy parking tactics (From Echo)

Don’t give in to council’s bully-boy parking tactics

1:08pm Friday 3rd February 2012 in News

I am not surprised by the Southend spy camera car catching a motorist who dropped off her husband near public toilets (Feb 1).

The circumstances are not dissimilar to other incidents which have been reported, such as people being photographed while stopped because of a puncture, or to assist at a traffic incident.

But your correspondent is wrong when he states “if I wanted to appeal, the fine went back to £70”. Southend Council deliberately does not make the situation clear about motorists who want to appeal against their parking fines.

The council wants motorists to feel pressurised into thinking they must shut up and pay up within 21 days, otherwise the fine will be doubled. However, this is not correct.

I had to phone Southend’s parking enforcement office to clarify this matter.

I was told if I wanted to appeal, I did not have to pay the fine immediately. Once my appeal was considered, and if my appeal was unsuccessful, I would still have 21 days to pay the £35 fine from the date of the appeal decision.

The fine would only be doubled to £70 if it was not paid within the 21 days.

To save money and put the motorist at an even greater disadvantage, the council deliberately does not send out parking fines or appeal decisions by recorded delivery.

Therefore, if these important letters are genuinely lost or delayed in the post, the hapless motorist has no way of proving this because no receipt will have been required by the postman.

I am in correspondence with my MP on these points, as well as many others, regarding the privately-owned, profit-making spy car camera company operating in the Southend area.

I urge your correspondent and other motorists not to meekly accept the bully-boy tactics of Southend Council, but to formally appeal, even if the fine has already been paid, and not hesitate to take the matter up with his own MPs.

Alan Davison
Lower Lambricks
Rayleigh

...I read with disbelief the letter from a motorist who was issued with a fine by Southend Council’s spy car for having the audacity to pull up in a bus layby to drop off a passenger.

What made matters even more ridiculous was the fact the photographs taken by the spy car showed this heinous crime lasting less than 60 seconds.

My understanding is that the controversial spy cars were brought in to clamp down on motorists who park illegally or dangerously, and thus interfere with traffic flow.

This incident hardly seems to fit into that category.

Does common sense ever figure in these matters?

Apparently not.

It is regularly reported that the number of visitors and shoppers to Southend is on the decrease, with businesses suffering a decline in takings, no doubt in the main due to the anti motorist policy operated by Southend Council.

Incidents like this are only going to exacerbate the situation. Retailers in Lakeside and Bluewater must be rubbing their hands with glee.

Graham Gowland
Canewdon Hall Close
Canewdon