15 October (Part 2) - Parking fines. Exposing Bexley’s dishonesty. (Episode 5)
The disabled
man who had been given a parking ticket and
was twice told that everything was in order eventually proved his case. Bexley council
acknowledged that its procedures embody an initial stitch up as standard. They
take no notice of any evidence supplied by the motorist, they review only their own.
Notwithstanding the admission and cancellation of the fine, our man on a mission
still had questions. The date the council had visited the scene of their crime was
still unanswered and he also wanted to know what possible reason there could be for
not examining his photos.
Mr. Greg Tippett eventually condescended to provide an answer on 17th December
2009. He said the council did a site inspection and confirmed the chevrons
had faded away on 25th September and the photos were ignored because they were black and
white. Not when submitted they weren’t but apparently the council had scanned
them into their system in monochrome. As excuses go, this was pretty lame,
Yellow lines are easy to spot whether it be a colour or a black and white photograph.
Another thing that was worth looking at is whether or not Civil Enforcement Officer BL286
had lied when he said that his report would be endorsed with a note of the mitigating
circumstance. viz. No kerb chevrons and a restriction sign behind a flower
basket. Almost needless to say, this being Bexley, a Freedom of Information
request revealed that CEO BL286 had indeed lied. He certified that all signs and
lines were correctly located and marked.
In response to another letter dated 29th January 2010, Greg Tippett said that he “found
that the signage was clear”. Well he would wouldn’t he, it had already been confirmed that
the flower basket was removed during the first week of September and no one thought to
check until the 25th. Is there no one at Bexley council with a modicum of sense?
Mr. Tippett concluded by saying “I confirm that this matter is now concluded”.
Sorry Greg, wrong again!
This story is reported in an indeterminate number of episodes.
A cumulative version is provided for convenience.