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News and Comment March 2011

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25 March - Councillor Craske - Defrauding motorists again

Transport Dept. approved signs
Transport Dept. approved signs
Wrong sign Wrong sign Wrong signThere was a report in this week’s News Shopper about a Dartford man fighting a parking ticket given to him in Tyrell Avenue, Welling for pavement parking. I didn’t give it any coverage because these things are a commonplace in Bexley where councillor Craske is trying to wring as much money as possible from motorists whether by legal means or not. However the very next day a Welling resident told me (he had not seen the Shopper’s report) how he had suffered an identical fate in Lovell Avenue, Welling. He has a Blue Badge and needed to park near Welling Station. He could have legally parked on a yellow line but encouraged by Bexley’s sign (see upper diagram and photo 1) left his car on the pavement and came back to find it ticketed. His appeal to Bexley council was rejected, now he will have to make an appointment with the Adjudicator to get Bexley council to comply with the law of the land.

If a Bonkers reader reports something I try to look into it. The situation in the two avenues is identical. Some parking bays are marked with a P sign with a car on the pavement and some are marked with the same sign with a red line through it and some bays have no sign at all. What a mess! But it gets worse. The Dept. of Transport’s website shows all the approved signs and is quite clear about the use of each. The signs Bexley has used (see upper diagram and photo 1) permit pavement parking, no ifs or buts, you can park on the pavement. If they want to confine parking to bays a different sign must be used (lower diagram). Nowhere does Bexley use the approved sign, so right across the borough, going back as many years as you can remember, all pavement parking penalties in incorrectly signed roads - which appears to be all of them - are illegal.

According to the Shopper a council spokeswoman said “the council is satisfied that the signs and markings comply with the statutory requirements”. Obviously she is an idiot who cannot read or is another council liar in full flow. Craske must pay up.

 

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