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Clamping ban hits landowners
Wheel clampers will be banned from working on private land in a bid to tackle rogue operators who charge exorbitant release fees, under the coalition government’s first changes to parking regulations. Home Office minister
Lynne Featherstone said previous efforts to curb the activities of unscrupulous clampers had failed. Te ban will be introduced in the government’s Freedom Bill in November and could be in place by early next year. Featherstone said:
‘For too long, motorists have fallen victim to unscrupulous tactics by clamping firms. ‘Reports of motorists
being marched to cash points or left stranded after their car has been towed are simply unacceptable. ‘Even though we have
tried to make this work by licensing individuals, companies responsible for the setting of the fees and the putting
ONE VOICE
The Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) is a registration point for local authorities that have de-criminalised on-street parking charges. It also recovers vehicle emission penalties, congestion charging and bus lane encroachment penalties for London boroughs.
A focus group consisting of the representatives from local authorities and TEC has been set up by the BPA, and the inaugural meeting has taken place. At the meeting, TEC gave a hands-on demonstration allowing
6 SEPTEMBER 2010
the local authority members to see for themselves how their system works, and what powers the current parking legislation gives to both TEC and local authorities. Both local authority
representatives and TEC staff voiced their frustrations with some parts of legislation, but the combined voice of the BPA and the focus group may be able to convince the government that the current legislation requires amendments to work for both the authority and the customer’s benefit.
Clampdown... wheel clamping is to be banned on private land
the selfish parker,’ Troy continued. ‘We urge the Home Office to tightly regulate the private parking sector, instead of throwing the baby out with the bath water.’ Writing in the
Guardian newspaper, Grahame Rose of CP Plus, said: ‘Te proposal to ban wheel clamping and towing on private land has not been thought through. ‘It is a landowner’s
up of signage have not really responded. We keep trying to make this work, but it doesn’t.’ Under the ban, private
firms will be unable to clamp or tow vehicles away, but they will still be able to issue tickets for parked cars. More than 2,000
existing clamping licences, issued by the Security Industry Authority (SIA), will be revoked under the plans for England and Wales and, once in force, anyone who clamps a vehicle or tows it away
on private land will face big fines or even jail. Only police or
councils will be allowed to immobilise or remove a car in exceptional circumstances, such as a car blocking a road. Private land clamping
is said to be worth £1bn a year, but has generated widespread complaints that some parking enforcement companies are extorting money from drivers. Motorists’ groups
welcomed the news. Automobile Association (AA) president Edmund
King said: ‘An outright ban on wheel clamping on private land is a victory for justice and common sense. ‘We have been
campaigning for a ban against this for years. Too many clampers have been acting like modern- day highwaymen for too long.’ However, many key
players in the parking industry are unhappy about the proposed ban. Patrick Troy, chief executive of the BPA, said: ‘We have long lobbied for better regulation of the private parking sector. We want to see higher operator standards and a fairer deal for motorists. Banning clamping removes any incentive to follow the rules.’ He explained that
clamping was one of the few measures a landowner could resort to if drivers persisted in parking on their land. ‘Te government’s
plans are a charter for
right to decide who is allowed to park on their property. It is their prerogative to set the conditions of use of their car park. ‘Tese terms may
include the issue of a parking charge notice (PCN) and/or the threat of clamping, which is used by many parking management companies to manage persistent offenders. Without this deterrent, there would be chaos.’ Both Rose and Troy
pointed out that the law affects a lot of people who perhaps have not considered the implications of the ruling. Anyone living near a station, a town centre or a stadium would have no way of dealing with someone parking on their drive or blocking them in. Rose explained: ‘Te
only way to handle this would be to cite trespass and obtain a court order for the keeper to remove the vehicle. Tis could take months.’
www.britishparking.co.uk
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