Monday, 29 June 2015

Barrow Council compensate motorist for illegal ParkingEye signs at The Range

Following a request to Barrow Borough Council in January 2014 as to whether ParkingEye had advertisement consent for its car park signage at The Range, Barrow in Furness, it became apparent to that Council that no consent had been obtained. It is a criminal offence to display such signage without the necessary consent in place. That crime took place between 2012 and February 2015.

Upon a compliant being lodged with the DVLA, it consulted the BPA and both agreed with ParkingEye that ParkingEye could not legally apply for any such consent so ParkingEye had not done anything wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth of course - anyone can apply for such consent whether they own the land or not. However, ParkingEye are past masters at lying to the various authorities and pulling the wool over their eyes.

In November 2014, after ParkingEye was threatened by the Council with being prosecuted, ParkingEye applied for consent. ParkingEye has also applied for similar consents at other sites it manages including, fairly recently, Burton Hospital. So a crime is being committed at Burton Hospital as well!

Hurrah! ParkingEye can apply for consent. The DVLA maintains that ParkingEye cannot apply for consent.

A formal complaint was lodged with the Barrow Council, as the Planning Authority, over its failure to act promptly over this crime.

The Council has now accepted that

1. Officers require training - especially in the law it is required to enforce
2. Officers failed to comply with the Council's enforcement policy
3. Maladministration has occurred, and
4. To compensate the complainant in the sum of £100. The same sum as is being claimed by ParkingEye.

Wouldn't it be nice if the powers that be, that we pay to do their jobs, could just do so - properly in the first place?

The Prankster recommends that any motorists who have paid ParkingEye for a charge regarding The Range, Barrow in Furness before February 2015, contacts Barrow Borough Council, lodges a formal complaint and requests compensation.

Similar councils may also compensate motorists for other car parks where signage is illegal.

Happy Parking

The Parking Prankster
at

19 comments:

  1. DBC29 June 2015 at 01:40

    It's a pity that the local tax-payers will suffer over this. Council budgets are being squeezed, so this compensation will have to come out of that diminishing pot of money.

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  2. ManxRed29 June 2015 at 03:57

    Has all this been pointed out to Brian "Dodge by name, Dodge by nature" at the DVLA yet?

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  3. ManxRed29 June 2015 at 03:58

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. Dave Eyre29 June 2015 at 12:06

    When I reported Parking Spy and Excel to Sheffield City Council about notices on car parks and planning permission they were not remotely interested. Can anyone point me in the direction of where it says it is illegal!

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  5. Northcountry29 June 2015 at 13:45

    DE this what you need to be pointing out to your local planning department.

    http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2007/783/contents/made

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  6. Northcountry29 June 2015 at 13:55

    PE only apply for planning permission after they have been pressed into action by the local planning authority. Planning permission costs money and takes up valuable revenue losing time.
    Planning Authorities don't like taking out enforcement action as it costs money, however when singled out PE do apply for PP begrudgingly.

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  7. The Dude29 June 2015 at 15:51

    Tried to get our Local Authority planning department interested, but they didn't bite, are they acting ultra vires ? And if they don't act, where can you complain ?

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  8. ShutPEDown29 June 2015 at 22:43

    Same here, they couldn't find a reason to force ParkingEye to apply for planning permission. I can't see a reason on that link either.

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  9. Northcountry29 June 2015 at 23:19

    Basically if a sign is over 0.3 m2 which the signage usually is and permanent in nature, express consent is needed.
    That is the view taken by the majority of councils in England and Wales.

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  10. Northcountry29 June 2015 at 23:23

    I should also have stated that the car park should not be totally enclosed and be visible from a public highway.

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  11. Dave Eyre30 June 2015 at 02:07

    Thanks for all your replies. I shall try again.

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  12. The Dude30 June 2015 at 03:06

    Northcountry, is this statute or down to the opinion of the local planning department ?

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  13. Fractious Tart1 July 2015 at 02:58

    It's complicated.
    http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk/blog/guidance/advertisments/what-is-the-definition-of-an-advertisement/

    A sign displaying "directions", ie directions on the use of a car park, which is in public view from the highway must meet the criteria for planning permission.
    Most councils won't readily know the full legislative requitements uless they have dealt with similar matters in the past as it really isn't easy to work with.

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  14. The Dude1 July 2015 at 11:14

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  15. The Dude1 July 2015 at 11:14

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  16. The Dude1 July 2015 at 11:15

    Thanks for that FT

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  17. The Wee Fecker14 January 2016 at 15:00

    Just discovered that warning letters sent out by local council (Copeland BC)has prompted Parking Eye to apply for Planning Consent for their signs in Morrisons supermarket car park. Until Planning Consent is granted, does the illegal signage provide grounds for appeal through PE then POPLA?

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  18. Parking Prankster14 January 2016 at 15:01

    Yes, but we dont know how popla will rule on this point

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  19. The Wee Fecker14 January 2016 at 15:06

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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