LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!
Media watch
A BBC programme trotted out some worn out parking clichés, but also raised some valuable points, says Parking News editor, Sarah Juggins
t was business as usual for the media as the New Year kicked off with an hour-long programme looking at parking enforcement by local authorities in London and the north-west. There were the usual parking stereotypes, including the repeated use of the term ‘cash cow’, but there were also some key messages which, if taken seriously, can help local authorities improve their performances. The BBC programme, Parking Mad, made three key points. It examined the work of the Parking Appeals Tribunal, the independent adjudicator for people who want to appeal their parking tickets; it highlighted the increasing use of technology, particularly CCTV camera cars, by local authority enforcement teams; and it looked at the work of the NoTo Mob – a group of motorcyclists who have made it their mission to cycle around some London boroughs warning the public if there is a CCTV camera car in the area.
I Modern day vigilantes
It was this third group who provided much of the entertainment. The bikers were on a mission to raise the visibility of parking controls and save the public from parking
28 FEBRUARY 2013
charges. This involved wearing ‘Joker’ masks and riding to ‘hotspots’ after a radio call alerted them to the presence of a CCTV camera car. They then waved placards in front of motorists, warning them that a camera would capture their vehicle number plates if they parked incorrectly or drove in a bus lane.
Motorists who did stop and listen to what the NoTo Mob had to say were fulsome in their praise, with one woman exclaiming: ‘You deserve every good thing that is coming your way.’ But many motorists, faced with a heavily disguised motorcyclist wearing a face mask and brandishing a sign, did what many people would do, and sped off in a different direction. Or as lead NoTo Mob member Bald Eagle would sadly say: ‘That’s another £70 for the council.’
The programme’s messages were clear, if unsubstantiated. Even though the number of enforcement offi cers on the street is dropping, the number of tickets being issued is rising and to the NoTo Mob this is unacceptable, hence its vigilante approach.
A second message, emphasised by the adjudicators during an appeal, is the importance of borough councils following all
the proper processes. Viewers saw a man escaping a penalty charge because the civil enforcement offi cer had not produced clear evidence that he had failed to display a blue badge when parking on a single yellow line. In Brighton and Hove, a man won an appeal, despite driving in a bus lane, because the sign had been placed incorrectly and could not be seen clearly by motorists.
Consistent messages
A parking campaigner in Bolton highlighted the poor state of some road signs, which were either incorrect or very faded. As the campaigner said: ‘If we are expected to comply, then the council should too.’ Anjna Patel, president of the BPA, went a step further: ‘When motorists buy our tickets, they are our customers and they have the right to expect certain standards of care from us.’
The work of the independent Parking Appeals Tribunal was well documented. The narrator explained that only three per cent of parking tickets were ever contested but, of those contested, a high proportion of tickets were dismissed. Maggie Kennedy is one of the adjudicators. She said: ‘People tell the most outrageous stories, and sometimes they are true; sometimes they are lying, but we listen to them all.’ Parking Mad was not without bias, but it did raise important points that local authorities can learn from.
www.britishparking.co.uk
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