24 August (Part 1) - Do not believe in the NSL Good Fairy
My colleague Elwyn Bryant lives within a Controlled Parking Zone.
Whilst attending to his own car parked on his own property he saw a Civil
Enforcement Officer place a Penalty Charge Notice on a car windscreen, so he
called out that it was 15 minutes past the end of the restricted hours. The CEO
went to inspect a sign and seeing that Elwyn was correct returned to remove the
PCN - and promptly destroyed it.
We have all read many times of CEOs who say that once a PCN is issued it cannot
be withdrawn, an appeal is the only way forward. I have always assumed that this is
an anti-bribery measure. Elwyn was inclined to
believe this was a story with a good outcome. I would suggest that it is nothing
of the sort.
My guess is that the data recorded on the CEO’s ticket machine will be processed
as usual and the motorist will receive a surprise through the post over the
coming days. He and Bexley council will then assume some vandal removed the PCN.