THE GREAT PARKING DEBATE
OPINION
comprehensible; importantly, they must be nationally consistent. We fully understand the need to reduce the administrative burden on local authorities to obtain special approval and support the idea of localism when it comes to the development of parking controls. However, parking controls should not be complex, and motorists should not have difficulty in understanding what is required of them and then being subject to unfair or inappropriate enforcement activity. The BPA has been widely involved in the development of the government’s review of UK traffic signs, and in particular has provided a number of focus groups and contributed to the DfT working groups, which led to the publication Signing the Way in 2012. Most unlawful parking is either accidental or opportunist; we want to see local authorities reducing the incidence of accidental non-compliance through designing clear and unambiguous parking controls. Our master plan highlights the need for a simplified traffic order, making process in order for local authorities to respond to local needs in the most efficient form – this includes the subject of clear and comprehensible parking signage.
GJ In one glaring example of this, a local authority installed CCTV cameras to enforce a bus gate. This was designed and enforced, by the local authority’s contractors. When enforcement started, penalty charge notices to the value of £20,000 were being issued each day. We visited the site about five weeks after commencement and immediately identified the problems with the scheme. We wrote to the council, giving details of the problems with the traffic management order, the signs and the road markings, and were told that the ‘expert’ advice said that we were wrong and they were right. However, the matter was later examined by the chief adjudicator, who also visited the site. Her opinion mirrored our points. As a result, the council had to refund in excess of £1m of unlawfully derived income. So why should we trust an industry that is letting down those it purports to serve? The NoTo Mob are attempting to bridge the chasm between us by identifying what it perceives to be problems, but in turn we are repeatedly rebuffed or ignored or ridiculed. We are then forced to ask ourselves the question that the industry will not ask of itself. Isn’t it, in reality, all about the money?
www.britishparking.co.uk
KR In matters such as these, it is clear that an element of common sense must be used to determine the best outcome for all concerned. Local authorities, and indeed all those managing parking, need to earn the trust of the motorist by providing effective fair and reasonable parking, with transparency about their terms for parking, and clear communication regarding the result of any non-compliance with those terms. We encourage local authorities to publish an annual report about their parking and traffic enforcement; this is an opportunity for councils and their parking teams as it serves to explain to people how important this work is to everyday life in the UK and how effective it is.
An annual report is more than just facts and figures. It represents the organisation, and the way it is presented is just as important as its content. Importantly it’s an opportunity to explain what is done with the money that is generated and, if this includes surplus, what is done with it.
How much investment is there in road
safety, public transport, concessionary fares schemes, environmental improvements and so on all funded from the parking account perhaps, but how would anyone know if you don’t tell them?
GJ Those involved in the parking industry should understand that we are merely answering the prime minister’s call for a ‘big society’. We will hold local authorities and their contractors to account. We will also hold to account those responsible for unlawful practices in the private parking industry, evidence of which we have already found. The following is a list of just some of the areas the NoTo Mob are currently investigating: access to DVLA database, the Approved Operator Scheme, POPLA, Traffic Managment Orders, signs, ANPR and unlawful data storage, abuse of DPA 1998, unlawful use of CCTV, unlawful bailiff fees, and local authority contract procurement.
KR One of the BPA’s key objectives is to put the consumer at the heart of our thinking and therefore we wanted to ensure we took note of and responded to the NoTo Mob’s views in the right way, with thought and consideration. It is only right that we are accountable to public scrutiny.
We are listening. MAY 2013 39
We absolutely and fundamentally
support the need to ensure that traffic signs, especially those which involve parking controls and enforcement, are clear, concise, and comprehensible
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