northern rail parking fine

andyb1972

hi all,
i rent a property from network rail in the glossop area,the car park itself is operated by northern rail.my property has a drive and is gated which leads onto the car park,outside the gate is a void area enough for approx. 2 cars before the actual car park bays start - this basically allows me to access the drive!
i have rented the property for 9 years and was told initially i could park in this void area,this would also prevent my car being blocked in if it was on the drive - on the property in front of this void area it sates 'no parking residents access',and on my gate i also have 'residents parking only' on my gate.these sign are professionally made and were in place before i took over the property.
in november i received a parking fine stating i was not in a marked bay and was causing an obstruction.having wrote to and spoke to northern rail i now find myself being summond to court.
it appears i had no right to park in this viod area even though i have returned home a number of occasions to find vehicles ignoring the signs.
should i change my not guilty plea,argue the fact that i've been parking there for 9 years or go down the route of parking bays not marked clearly and the only obstruction caused was to my own property - i have a number of pictures to back this up,also my drive being blocked etc.etc.
don't get me wrong i've had parking fines in the past at different locations,but this i feel is a matter of principal
many thanks
andyb

vax2002

Attend court and plead not guilty and ask for a full hearing, present your evidence that this land is outside of the area under the control of the private parking firm operating upon Northern rails instruction, That the person writing this ticket will be required to attend court on oath for questioning as to there power to issue by-law tickets as will a representative from Northern rail legal department to explain how this power to issue railway bylaw tickets transfers to a contractor.
They wont want that issue pulling up.

andyb1972

the land is part of the car park but is not marked with bays,it's basically footpath you would only use if you were a resident.it has double yellow lines that are faded and broken - would this make any difference?

Coupon-mad

Double yellows don't apply on private land - and even if the Train Operator wants to try to mimic double yellows they need to understand what such lines mean in the real world (public highway). On double yellows a disabled person can park; on double yellows anyone can stop for say, up to 20 mins to load/unload, for instance. Double yellow lines do NOT mean no parking at all, even on the highway.

And if you were told you could park there then that was your honest belief. Were you told by the Train Operating Company (TOC) or their predecessor? Got it in writing, and/or is it mentioned in the small print in your rental agreement?

I would post about this on pepipoo with a photo of your original 'penalty' & the letters received since (just cover any ref, barcode, address, personal detail):

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=60

It also depends on whether this 'alleged offence' was within the last 6 months and whether a proper penalty notice was served by the TOC (not by some random parking firm using a fake one on behalf of the TOC).

HTH

andyb1972

the penalty notice has a cp number and believe it was issued by someone working for network rail - they also quote byelaw 14,but i don't have a copy.
i was initially told by the letting agents representative(network rail) when i took the property on in respect of parking,but now believe he is no longer with the company - i suppose these are the matters i will chase if i do finally get a court date - at present as i have pleaded not quilty the date will be arranged - i had to enter a plea by the 29th may!
ultimately i'm annoyed it's not the money it's the fact i have a reasonable explanation for parking where i did but someone in an office appears to be making a stand - the simple solution would have been to offer myself and the wife a couple of parking permits,something i have suggested

Stigy

vax2002 wrote: »

Attend court and plead not guilty and ask for a full hearing, present your evidence that this land is outside of the area under the control of the private parking firm operating upon Northern rails instruction, That the person writing this ticket will be required to attend court on oath for questioning as to there power to issue by-law tickets as will a representative from Northern rail legal department to explain how this power to issue railway bylaw tickets transfers to a contractor.
They wont want that issue pulling up.

How do we know it was a PPC that issued the ticket and not a Northern Rail employee?

Either way, it makes no difference if the PPC is acting on behalf of Northern Rail and they (Northern Rail) wish to take the matter to court. I can only assume it's the Magistrates' Court and that this is a Byelaw ticket. I'd think it much more likely that Northern themselves issued the ticket if it's got as far as court.