Spotlight

Parking Refunds On Cards For Harrogate?

Tim Thorne December 9, 2015 Harrogate Borough Council

A quick look around Harrogate Borough Council’s (HBC) Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) on Google Streetmap yields a clue where Scarborough Borough Council (SBC) copied their CPZ signage from.

Like Scarborough and Whitby, Harrogate’s CPZs do not make a single mention of parking permits in their Residential Parking Zones. As such, the on-street signage does not convey the traffic regulation order in place.

Last week, I posted an adjudication notice from the Traffic Penalty Tribunal where I contested a couple of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) issued by Scarborough Borough Council (SBC).

The outcome was that my appeal was accepted and the Tribunal ordered SBC to cancel the PCNs.

It is my belief that anyone who has paid out for a Residential Parking Permit or has paid a PCN for ‘Parked in a disc parking place without clearly displaying a valid disc‘ in Harrogate is due a refund as the local authority has not implemented the signage in the Controlled Parking Zones correctly.

I had a couple of emails asking if I could explain exactly how SBC got it so wrong, but the information pertaining to Harrogate is identical so I will share it here for the benefit of folks who’ve received PCNs in Harrogate.

This is a TSRGD 2002 663 sign. It should appear at the start of every CPZ, one each side of the road. The lettering can be varied from ‘Controlled‘ to ‘Meter‘, ‘Disc‘, ‘Ticket‘, ‘Disc and Meter‘, ‘Ticket and Meter‘ or ‘Pay and Display‘. If there is no 663 signs at any one of the zone entrances, the CPZ is invalid.

This is a TSRGD 2002 662 sign. This is a repeater sign used in a Disc Zone. These signs are commonplace within the CPZs implemented in Harrogate.

This is a TSRGD 2002 660.6 sign. This is a mixed use sign for areas where a local authority wants both residential permit and disc parking. These are the signs that should probably have been implemented in Harrogate’s CPZs.

A large number of signs currently in situ in Harrogate’s CPZs clearly do not provide adequate information as to the parking restrictions within the CPZ as the majority of them do not mention Permits.

If you’ve recently received a PCN for ‘Parked in a disc parking place without clearly displaying a valid disc‘ on a street in Harrogate which had a TSRGD 662 sign close by, then appeal it using this information.

Subject: PCN Appeal

Hello,

I wish to appeal PCN XXXXXXXX on the following grounds.

The contravention did not occur.
The Traffic Order concerned is invalid.
There has been a procedural impropriety on the part of the Enforcement Authority.

It has come to my attention that the signs within the Controlled Parking Zone do not reflect the Traffic Regulation Order in force as there is no mention of residential parking permits on any signage where I parked.

Kind regards,

If you’ve paid a PCN for ‘Parked in a disc parking place without clearly displaying a valid disc‘ on a street in Scarborough or Whitby that has a TSRGD 662 Sign then request a refund.

If you’ve paid for parking permits for a CPZ that doesn’t have the correct signage in Harrogate then request a refund.

Subject: Parking Permit / PCN Refund

Hello,

It has come to my attention that the Controlled Parking Zone implemented in Harrogate was not implemented correctly and the signs within the CPZ don’t convey the traffic regulation order in force.

I’ve purchased X permits at a total of £XXX. I’ve also paid £XXX for X PCNs. Since I didn’t need to buy a permit and since it has been proven that the PCNs are not legally valid as the zones have not been signed correctly, please can you organise a refund of £XXX.

Kind regards,