Exceeding the notified maximum free parking period - Horfield Leisure Centre, Bristol

[onFourWheels]

Hi all,

Here was the appeal submitted to CEL:

I am the registered keeper of the above vehicle. I dispute the Parking Charge Notice and deny any liability for the sum claimed.

I am aware, and have verified via the Land Registry, that the location identified in the Notice is council-owned land forming part of a leisure centre owned and controlled by Bristol City Council, which is a traffic authority. The Land Registry title number is BL113931, and the Bristol City Council land reference is 7603.

Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 expressly excludes from the definition of “relevant land” any land which is owned or controlled by a traffic authority, pursuant to paragraph 3(1)(b). Council-owned land therefore falls outside the scope of Schedule 4 as a matter of statute. In those circumstances, there is no lawful basis upon which liability may be transferred to the registered keeper, and any reliance upon Schedule 4 of the Act is denied.

Further, the signage and parking arrangements at this location do not constitute any contractual offer capable of acceptance by conduct for a charge of the nature demanded. In the absence of any lawful contractual mechanism permitting parking in return for payment, or extension of any alleged parking period upon payment, no enforceable parking charge can arise.

In any event, the Notice to Keeper does not comply with the mandatory requirements of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. Keeper liability can only arise where there is full and strict compliance with that legislation, which has not occurred.

There will be no admission as to the identity of the driver. The registered keeper cannot be presumed or inferred to have been the driver, nor held liable under any theory of agency. If you believe you have a cause of action, it lies against the driver only.

Given the above, you will be aware that you have no realistic prospect of success before POPLA. In the circumstances, I invite you to cancel the Parking Charge Notice now and thereby avoid the unnecessary use of time and resources by both parties.

I also dispute that you had reasonable cause to obtain my personal data from the DVLA. Given that the land is council-owned and expressly excluded from the definition of relevant land under Schedule 4 of the Act, your pursuit of the registered keeper appears to be without lawful basis. I reserve all rights in this regard.

Please confirm that the charge has been cancelled, or alternatively provide a POPLA verification code.

Had an email today stating the following:

Dear Sir / Madam,  
 
We are writing to you regarding the appeal you submitted in relation to your Parking Charge.

We have identified an issue that may have prevented our email containing the decision letter from being successfully delivered to you. As a result, we are resending the decision letter for your records.

To ensure you are not disadvantaged in any way, we have extended both the payment and further appeal deadlines accordingly.

Any previously offered discounted amount has been reinstated and will remain available for a further 14 days from the date of this email, giving you a fair opportunity to settle the charge at the reduced rate. No additional charges or recovery action will be taken during this extended period.

If your appeal was unsuccessful, you still retain the right to escalate the matter to the independent appeals service, POPLA. Full details of how to do this, including the relevant deadline and your unique POPLA reference (if applicable), are included in the appeal decision letter.

Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused, and thank you for your patience and understanding.

Yours faithfully,

Appeals Department

With this letter attached:

   

As I expected, ignored all of my points and just said the signs were clear which, aside from anything else, isn't even factually true.

I believe it's now POPLA time, so any help in drafting that appeal would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

OFW