Parking problems on private land

[Deleted User]

cleeside wrote: »

they deserve to be charged a reasonable fine

They can't be charged a fine.

Fines are for criminal offences, and simple trespass is a civil matter.

cleeside

muckybutt wrote: »

Go for the recessed bollards thus avoiding trip hazards such as

Thanks, we did get a quote from a company for the remote controlled variety at it was a lot dearer than these sort of prices. The quote did included fitting to be fair.

My property is basically the size of a small 2up 2down corner terraced house that has been demolished with a lock up/office/place to drink tea. We have six marked car parking places. It being on the corner of a road junction we have to consider the highways people if we do anything.

We are a firm who install and repair agricultural equipment so come and go at random times. People don't block us in but quite frequently just decide to park there, presumably avoid paying elsewhere.

LincolnshireYokel

cleeside wrote: »

T

We are a firm who install and repair agricultural equipment so come and go at random times. .

OFF TOPIC:
Thats interesting. One of my ancestors insured and repaired agricultural equipment in the early 19th century, the building where he had a blacksmith shop in 1828 still exists in Lincoln.

mikey72

cleeside wrote: »

I've been a long time lurker on the moneysavingexpert forum but I am now sticking my head above the parapet to ask a few questions about parking enforcement. I am not a troll or a PPC astroturfer so please be gentle with me.

I have a small business premises on the edge of the town centre with six car parking spaces, which me and my colleagues use to park our cars and vans. It is becoming an increasing problem that unauthorised vehicles are parking in these spaces, sometimes for just a few minutes or sometimes many hours. This is causing us inconvenience but also plenty of aggravation. Fencing the whole area off and putting a gate in would be difficult because of the physical layout, local authority consent and other parties right of access as well as being expensive.

I’m aware that the private car park enforcement industry is a contentious issue and sites like this one are giving it a hard time and rightly so in many cases. And the consensus on here seems to be don’t pay and completely ignore the penalty notice. However I believe there must be some sanction that land owners can use to stop people parking their cars without permission. This militancy on both sides is making difficult for genuine and honest people to run businesses. So my question is how can I legitimately and ethically stop cars parking on my land. I don’t want to make money out of car parking, I don’t want confrontations with people, I just want to be able to park unhindered on my property whenever I choose.

Thanks
D


(If you do work for a PPC don’t bother replying or trying to message me touting for business, I am as capable as the next man of finding your companies on the internet if I wanted to)

How many entrances/exits to the parking space are there?

In our local, we just used to park behind them, then when they came in looking for the car owner, give them the run around for half an hour or so.

cleeside

LincolnshireYokel wrote: »

OFF TOPIC:
Thats interesting. One of my ancestors insured and repaired agricultural equipment in the early 19th century, the building where he had a blacksmith shop in 1828 still exists in Lincoln.

Knowing our industry it wouldn't surprise me if the company was still going, repairing the same equipment, for the same farms!

Sir_Roger_deLodger

cleeside wrote: »

I wasn't meaning to say that all PPC companies are cowboys, I would view some of their activities as legitimate and neccessary.

Really? Which ones?

Stephen_Leak

cleeside wrote: »

<snip> I do however think that , for example, if someone parks in a supermarket carpark that is clearly signed as being for customers only and limited to 2 hours and then they leave the car there all day they deserve to be charged a reasonable fine and they shouldn't just be able to totally ignore the consequences. <snip>

I have every sympathy for a store owner, who pays good money providing car parking for their customers, only to see it being used by others, but a private company cannot impose legally enforceable fines or penalties. All the car park owner, not their agent, could claim from any offenders in damages is what they've lost as a result. If it's a free car park, as most supermarkets are, this is £0.00. If it's a pay and display car park, then it's the original unpaid charge.

Unfortunately, as we all know, a private ticketing company would not only ticket the deserving "all day parkers", but also any customer who wandered off the site to a cashpoint and then back to the supermarket, who stayed for 2 hours, 1 minute, or who parked for 1 hour and then came back later in the day for another ½ hour (the old "first in, last out" trick).

Please see page 8, lines 7 & 8 of VCS Parking Control vs. Ronald Ibbotson, S!!!!horpe, 2012, where a private ticketing company's legal representative admits (in court and the public domain) that their job is not car park management, but enforcement.

People have tried to run private ticketing companies within the law, but the business model simply doesn't allow for this.

And, of course, none of this prevents the problem from happening in the first place or removes the vehicle involved to allow a customer to use the bay. Only some form of access control can do that.

RuthnJasper

Cleeside - there are loads of companies available, but I get my retractable bollards/gates/etc. from a company called Centrewire (http://www.centrewire.com/).

Best wishes. x

bazster

Assuming that you are the licensed occupier of the land there is nothing to stop you putting up signs stating that the parking charge is £50 per hour or part thereof, and chasing the unpaid charges yourselves.

In other words, act like a PPC but do it legally.

Obviously you don't really chase the charges all the way to court (that would be a huge waste of your time and resources), but putting a well-produced and correctly-worded invoice on the windscreen of each car (other than your employees) should be sufficient to deter most from returning.

And if you keep a record of the reg nos. then you can spot persistent offenders, apply to the DVLA for the RK details, and send them another invoice in the post.

I reckon that for very little effort that will get rid of 99.9% of your problem, honestly and legally.

skivenov

Ways I used to do it when I ran a shop:

Park you car up there, stick a ticket on the windwscreen and a clamp on the wheel (available from caravan places). That'll put em off.

Install a sign reading "24 hour access required - Any cars left here may be removed by forklift - You have been warned" (don't do it though, it's criminal damage).

Block em in with a van, and as said, give em the roun around for a while "he's nipped out for lunch and taken the keys, think he's at the cafe, nope his phone's off - walk down and ask for Dave".