1 January - Absent for ten years but still lurking
I might have guessed that @tonyofsidcup would feature in the first post of
the year just as he did last year but I was unprepared for seeing him resurrecting the name Greg Tippett.
That name appeared on Bonkers 27 times between
May 2011 (unlicensed CCTV cars) and
July
2015 (Bailiff malpractice) and none of
them complimentary (illegally setting the police on a resident). I thought
he had disappeared along with the senior management team that wrecked Bexley
Council’s reputation all those years ago. But no!
@tony twice reported a motorcycle
leaning against a shop front on Market Parade, Sidcup last October
and was ignored by Bexley Council. Not a wise move when @tony is involved. The
inaction provoked yet another Freedom of Information request.
A response came from Mr. Tippett who maintained that Market Parade is not part
of the Public Highway which he backed up by saying the demarcation line was
clearly indicated by differing footpath surfaces. (See Photo). He went on to
acknowledge (†) that PCNs can be issued to vehicles on private land but considered this particular
motorcycle was not a danger to the public despite it being an obvious trip hazard and did not obstruct any access to
premises which if such criteria were essential for a successful prosecution would invalidate many if not most parking offences.
Without a photograph the CEO’s judgment is difficult to contest.
@tony
argument is that unlike Mr. Tippett he had seen the site and
passage was obstructed. To back his case he submitted the legal judgment made
against a Mr. Robert White who leaned his motorcycle against a wall in Brewer
Street, Westminster. He thought he was safe parking beyond the demarcation line (pavement lights)
between public and private property.
Whilst the Judge accepted that the bike was parked on private land, he said that various precedents had defined a highway as…
“a route which all persons rich or poor can use to pass and repass along as often and whenever they wish without let
or hindrance and without charge. Brewer Street is a busy thoroughfare in the
heart of the West End and it seems to me obvious that generally speaking it is a highway within this definition.
The point is whether the highway extends right up to adjoining buildings and I am assisted by the views in a number of similar
cases which I regard as highly persuasive and take the view that the extent of
the highway is indeed indicated by its natural boundary, namely the building line.
I share the broad view that where there are no physical barriers and the
public has been apparently free to walk over the whole width of the street for many
years, such evidence suggests it is part of the highway. I too find that it is.”
Mr. White lost his case against the penalty issued by Westminster Council.
How will Mr. Tippett respond to yet another complaint? @tony will no doubt let us know. So far he
is asking only for an apology for Bexley Council’s alleged ignorance of established case law; but are they?
If Bexley Council adopted Westminster’s policy in Abbey Wood I can think of
several traders who would be very upset about it. If Mr. Tippett has any sense
he should perhaps more clearly acknowledge that @tony has the law on his side but Bexley Council as
a matter of policy has decided not to pursue parking offences on private property
except in exceptional cases.
Maybe he should also modify the blanket ‘ban’ on reporting private property
parking displayed on his website. It is not “unable”, it is a conscious decision just like their decision
not
to enforce the 50 centimetres from the kerb rule.
Note: This blog was extensively edited on 4th January because the original analysis of
the Council’s response missed the vital item marked with a † above.