1 February 2016
Green councillor Denise Carlo has written to the Department for Communities and Local Government to object to National Parking Enforcement (NPE)’s heavy-handed approach at Earlham House.
Residents were shocked when in late 2014, NPE erected a No Entry sign at one of two entrances to the lower car park even though the access arrangements had been operating safely for forty years.
In the absence of any warning or genuine safety concern, NPE Ltd started sending £60 charge notices to drivers for entering the car park ‘the wrong way’. The drivers’ registration numbers were captured by a newly installed hidden CCTV system.
Green councillors for Nelson ward challenged the legal basis of these charges, and NPE agreed to refund all drivers who had paid the fine. However, the councillors continued to receive calls from aggrieved drivers not in receipt of a refund months after the event, which suggested that the company had only paid out to people who were aware of their right to a refund and had made contact.
Other examples of NPE’s approach include a disabled motorist who received a fine despite having a Blue Badge clearly displayed, and instructing a debt recovery company to pursue a driver who parked with one tyre over the white line between bays.
After offering these examples of NPE’s behaviour, Cllr Carlo’s letter concludes:
“The above case demonstrates that the DVLA needs to take greater safeguards in handing over Vehicle Keeper Details in the absence of ‘reasonable cause’. The DVLA had passed a substantial number of driver information to NPE for entering the car park ‘the wrong way’ without checking that in fact that NPE Ltd were acting unlawfully in imposing a charge.
“In the light of this blatant parking scam, I wrote to to the Secretary of State for Communities, Eric Pickles, to request a review of the legislation and guidance concerning the management and enforcement of parking on private land. My letter was passed to the Department for Transport and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State replied to say that sufficient controls were already in place and the Government had no plans to revise the existing legislation at present.
“It clearly wasn’t the case that adequate safeguards were in place otherwise NPE Ltd would have been unable to exploit the parking legislation in this way.
“Following the General Election, responsibility for parking has been restored to DCLG but the public are still waiting for action over companies which manage parking on private land.”
We will update this story if a reply is received!
