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News and Comment June 2010

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18 June - Bexley council. Dictators who don’t believe in democracy

Earlier this week I reported that Bexley council were delaying responses to parking appeals so that the appellant would have to pay a higher fine. Whilst I am slowly getting used to the idea that Bexley council is the epitome of bad practice and management by spite, a bit of me still finds it hard to believe, so I have been searching around the web for whether what they are doing is legal or not.

The parking adjudicator’s website says “Please note, challenging the PCN before the end of the 14 day period may, in some cases freeze the discounted rate but this is not always the case - you need to check with your individual council”. So it seems that councils who believe in fairness will say something like “Currently we are unable to specify a date for our response but during this time the case will be placed on hold to stop it progressing any further. You will not be disadvantaged by any delay on our part. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this delay may cause you.” and councils intent on being evil bastards at every opportunity will penalise you for having the temerity to exercise the legal right of appeal. Given that choice it’s pretty obvious what a dictatorial council which doesn’t really believe in democracy will do.

Perhaps Bexley should be played at its own game. If the fine is doubled because Bexley council contrives to take longer than 14 days to respond there is absolutely no reason not to take the case to appeal. The fine cannot be increased, but it is further deferred and it helps keep the nasty individuals who infest Bexley council bogged down in extra paperwork. Best of all, the parking adjudicator won’t be happy with Bexley council if the number of appeals keeps rising.

As if to confirm Bexley council as being fundamentally corrupt I have overnight received another catalogue of their malpractice detailing lies, cover-ups and refusals to fulfill statutory obligations. I have a feeling that this particular case is far from over and could possibly find it’s way to court so I have decided it might be best to put publication on ice for a while. I once had a council blatantly ask me for a back-hander to look favourably on a planning application and was astounded when my employer (a multi-national company) was asked for the same and simply didn’t know how to handle the situation, but I have never before known a council to be so keen to declare war on its residents as Bexley appears to have done.

 

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