Last
month Bexley council got into trouble with the Parking Adjudicator for
fining a motorist who parked on the pavement when the signs encouraged him to do
so but failed to mention that it was permissible only in marked bays. In any case
the marking on the bays had long since disappeared. The Adjudicator said
that in the circumstances “the contravention did not occur” and that it was necessary to ensure that “the bay markings could easily be seen at
night by a stranger”. Source : News Shopper, 27 July 2011.
You would think that a ruling like that would make Bexley council mend its ways,
but Bexley is not a council that believes the law of the land applies to it; it
is carrying on fining motorists regardless.
The photographs are of Buckingham Avenue where a newcomer to Bexley
has had an unfortunate encounter with an identical parking sign and just
like others
before him, felt able to park anywhere on the pavement, there being
no mention of bays. Can you see the bays in daylight, let alone at night as
demanded by the Adjudicator? Where Bexley’s new resident parked there is a tiny
remnant of a white line at one end of the supposed bay, nothing else. Result; a
Penalty Notice. Bexley council knows it will lose if the case is appealed, but
it tries it on in the hope that some will pay and its coffers will be swollen by
what is in effect theft.
Good to see a newcomer to Bexley becoming another blog reader, not so good that
Bexley council welcomes him in its trademark fashion.