Is no planning permission for the ticketing machines and cameras a valid defense???

n0355209

I have recieved a "notice of proposed allocation to the small claims track" i have no clue what to do next?

my defense was submitted as such:

"I was informed that planning permission for the car park including
4 ticket machines and CCTV cameras had lapsed at the time of the
alleged offence and that permission was not renewed until 6th
January 2014. I would therefore ask the court to adjudicate on the
grounds that the claimant’s case had no legal validity."

the above defense was based on fact, can anyone confirm what i should do now? Is the fact they didn't have planning permission a valid defense?

What advice do you have for me completing my N180 form?

see below more details.


Bolton G Casino car park 'was not legal for seven years'

If im honest I was in the wrong when I parked and didn't pay no excuse I just didn't pay not sure why. But when I received the £70 ticket I read some outdated advice to ignore the letters, Im glad I did in a way as I read the article below.

theboltonnews.co.uk/news/10844108.Bolton_G_Casino_car_park__was_not_legal_f or_seven_years_/?ref=erec[/url]

The week previous I had received a parking fine in relation to the car park I refused to pay the fine due to the nature of the car park, private etc. I then read the article and this made my view on not paying. They then sent three/four more letters which were ignored. It surprised me they were pursuing this due to the lack of planning permission at the time of my offence.

Then in March this year they issued me with county court papers, to which I submitted my defense based on the article wrote and the fact that planning permission wasn't present. My alleged offence occurred on the 24/10/2013, they submitted there planning application on the 31/10/2013, and it was granted in Jan 2014. The defense was a simple two lines stating the lack of planning permission for the cameras and the pay points made the claim invalid.

I got off, others wont have, people will have just paid their fine without being aware of the issue. I submitted my defense and they had 28days to response once receiving the defense this has now lapsed so in essence I won the case, technically its stayed.

It was never heard in court, I believe this is because they know that they may be ordered to pay back any people who were fined during Dec 2006 - Jan 2014

If any one knows of anyone who has been fined at the "Bolton G Casino car park", during the above period spread the word. Repost were you can.

In essence they weren't allowed to enforce the hourly charges, as they had no permission, it was up to the customer of the car park if they wished to pay.

So I posted this last night, I jumped the gun clearly.

Today: I received a "Notice of Proposed allocation to the small claims track"

Which states that:

This is now a defended claim.

bazster

IMO the absence of planning permission is no defence at all to this claim.

I suggest you study the Parking Prankster's guides:

http://www.parking-prankster.com/court-claim.html

Hot_Bring

I really hope there was more to your defence than that ? You could use that as one element of your overall defence but I doubt you'll win as it stands. You need to build a case, all the standard stuff - lack of contract, lack of authority and standing to issue charges and go to court, GPEOL etc etc

If you think you'll struggle to build a defence then you might be better off coming to a settlement. You may get someone that has the time and knowledge to assist you build the defence but remember, unless you have a lay representative, you will be the one arguing your case to the judge so you need to ensure you actually understand your defence.

n0355209

I cant get my head around the fact that this carpark, didn't have the required permission to even have ticket machines or cameras on the land, yet they can use then to pursue me.

Im at a stage now were, the legal system takes me into realms i'm not experienced enough to fight, in fact it appears this was apparent at submitting my defense stage.

I naively convinced myself they didn't have a leg to stand on, and thus did no research. which im regretting now!!

This stems from me not paying a £1.50 ticket as the car park was based on the customers can use the car park for a period of time rule . I'm actually a member at the casino, were the car park is situated, but didn't visit that day.

Should I enter mediation and offer to pay £50?

Or should I work on writing a more robust defense and take it down the small claims track. Ill buy the pranksters guide and get working on it. Hopefully once written some one on here will advise if its a strong case.

Regards

bazster

Think about a shop as an analogy. If it operates for 5 years and then it turns out it never had planning permission, does that mean that all its customers get their money back? Obviously not: the contracts between the shop and its customers are a quite separate matter from the planning permission.

By all means mention it in your defence as evidence of incompetence or bad faith, but there are much more important matters concerning the contract (or lack thereof) between ParkingEye and you, as you will see from the Prankster's books. However, before you take on PE in court, you need to (i) be comfortable that you fully understand with all the defence arguments and (ii) accept that you are not guaranteed to win. Pranky's advice usually wins, but not always.

n0355209

Wish id of thought of it in that way previously.

Ill do some more research later, Has it gone beyond the point of me offering them the parking fee? or as I said previous settling to pay them £30 for example?

Can I still do this direct to parking eye? or should I go through mediation?

ColliesCarer

In addition to Pranksters book did you also download the free examples of Legal Arguments - take a look at the flowchart on page 10 of that which shows the various courses of action you can take alongside dealing with the actual claim.
Any offers to settle that you make I believe should be made using the phrase "Without prejudice save as to costs". If you decide to try to negotiate with them post your letter up before you send it so that those more legally minded here can help you ensure it's phrased correctly.

Link for the download if you haven't already got the Legal Arguments is below

http://parking-prankster.com/court-claim.html

n0355209

Hi sorry could you post a link for the"

ColliesCarer wrote: »

download the free examples of Legal Arguments - take a look at the flowchart on page 10 of that which shows the various courses of action you can take alongside dealing with the actual claim.

I searched the forum but no joy or can i not see the wood for the trees here!!

If I am to write a letter offering £30 or less can I do this direct to parking eye or should I wait for mediation?

Thanks in advance for any help. hopefully better late than never.

As I have already submitted what appears to be a very weak defense is there any way to resubmit a defense for consideration prior to the small claims track? or if i want to fight this based on Prankster guide etc do I have to do this on my day in court?

ColliesCarer

The link to get Pranksters free download of Legal Arguments (which contains the flowchart on p10) is at the bottom my post now highlighted in bold

ColliesCarer wrote: »

In addition to Pranksters book did you also download the free examples of Legal Arguments - take a look at the flowchart on page 10 of that which shows the various courses of action you can take alongside dealing with the actual claim.
Any offers to settle that you make I believe should be made using the phrase "Without prejudice save as to costs". If you decide to try to negotiate with them post your letter up before you send it so that those more legally minded here can help you ensure it's phrased correctly.

Link for the download if you haven't already got the Legal Arguments is below

http://parking-prankster.com/court-claim.html

n0355209

Sorry, Im having a bad day at work, and this on top.

I assumed when you said free it was a separate from the pranksters guide.

im still reeling from posting a boosting post stating id won then a letter appearing.

ColliesCarer

It is separate to the Pranksters Guide and needs to be downloaded as well - it's the second download on the page in the link I gave you. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and you will see

Legal Arguments to use in a
ParkingEye Court Claim

ParkingEye are known to file over 1,000 court claims a week ........ the many cases they have lost in court.

Download via Smashwords