POPLA Appeal

mhugradar

you are right it is 2000 word limit

let me sort it out

KeithP

mhugradar said:

you are right it is 2000 word limit

let me sort it out

No it isn't.

It is 2000 characters.

Coupon-mad

Not sure what to make of the contract letter .... see what others say.

The obvious thing for me = email James Maguire right now!  TODAY.  NOW.

To be clear this is NOT the POPLA comments, this is another angle of attack.

 Complain that the parking firm and the Trust are jointly and severally liable for significant breaches of the NHS Car Parking Principles as set by Government.  Ask why PCNs are not being cancelled for patients and why the signs are so sparse, and why they are allowing the parking firm to target patients who are certainly not abusing the site. Why are they ignoring the good practice guide from the NHS Principles and Memorandum:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/481556/HTM0703NovemberUpdated.pdf 

Ask why are they making no efforts whatsoever to trace the driver before issuing a PCN, which is meant to be a last resort, not blanket ANPR camera-PCN-bombing of every car?  Why are the NHS not considering the appeals, and are letting their parking firm loose on patients and families like this, to frighten and intimidate them?

Continue with your facts (briefly):
My vehicle was parked outside the Children’s Observation unit, which is an emergency unit for Children who are given access to urgent care bypassing A&E. This was due to the prematurity and oxygen requirements of my daughter.
To get to the unit you have to access the Hospital Grounds from Haslingden Road (Near KFC) at Entrance B. There is no Operator sign when entering here. You then follow the road to the right, then left onto Old Bank Lane towards the unit. There are no Operator signs along this entire route. When reaching the unit and at the parking bays, once again there are no Operator signs in this area.
The Unit is accessed from its own entrance and the exit is the same.
The exit route again has no signs, as you follow the same route out.

Why is the NHS trust not stepping in to cancel PCNs issued to people like us?  Instead I have been dragged by your operator, to POPLA, who don;t consider the mitigating circumstances nor the NHS Car Parking Principles, and will just look at whether the car was there, which is not denied.  I feel let down by your Trust and was horrified to see the parking firm using a letter signed by you, to send to POPLA to try to extort £100 from parents attending an emergency children's unit.

mhugradar

1415 Characters

Any better?

The first point I raised was the lack of signage from NCP.

 NCP claim in their evidence that there is 'clear and sufficient signage at the entrance and throughout the car park'.  But they do not include any images of signage in the area in which the car was parked or along the route taken.  The Car was parked outside Children's Observation Unit (the emergency unit for children's urgent care which bypasses A&E).  There are no NCP signs outside the COU.  COU has its own entrance and exit, and to get to the unit you have to access hospital grounds from Haslingden Rd (Near KFC) at Entrance B.  There is no NCP signage at that entrance.  There are no NCP signs along the road and Old Bank Lane towards the unit from the entrance.  The exit route is the same and there are no signs along it.  

NCP have NOT included any images of any of these areas.  They are trying to mislead POPLA by showing signs at other entrances and locations.  Also, there are no Pay machines near COU, and parking here is free, so any signage near a pay machine would not be seen.

 

The second point raised was “No evidence of Landowner Authority”.

NCP have said they will show a copy of authority to undertake the enforcements on the car park, but NCP has failed to provide the Landowner Authority contract, they have just sent a request for service.  Once again NCP is misleading POPLA.

On the above grounds my appeal must therefore be upheld.

mhugradar

Coupon-mad said:

Not sure what to make of the contract letter .... see what others say.

The obvious thing for me = email James Maguire right now!  TODAY.  NOW.

I emailed the CEO of the trust, and James Maguire called me back to discuss.  He did not want to help.  He told me to appeal to POPLA.  I followed up with further emails to James to be told again to just follow appeals process.  No mentions of cancelling the ticket at all.

His email response was:

As you know from our recent conversations, my advice to you is to pay the PCN’s as soon as possible in order to keep the cost to a minimum, or to follow NCP’s appeal process as detailed on the back of the PCN.

 

We have spoken about the points you have made below, and also that if court proceedings do take place, we will make appropriate representation at that time.  I do not think I can add anything more to the conversation and hope that this this clarifies the current position.

Coupon-mad

Reply to him with the words I suggested.   Press him more, and more, and again, and again.

Tell him you are about to lose at POPLA and this is unacceptable by the NHS Trust who have failed in all respects including adhering to clear Government policy that was communicated more than once in official Health Memorandums.

 I am guessing you didn't yet draw the NHS Car Parking Principles to his attention yet.  I wrote you some words to use and it makes no odds that her has already fobbed you off once; don't let it lie.

MistyZ

Go for it mhugradar.  The time has passed to play nice with Mr Maguire.  C-m pulls no punches, her words leap off the page.  

Incidentally, do paragraph your rebuttal, but not with double-line spacing - I'm still not sure whether the character limit does or does not include spaces, so unless someone here enlightens us, play safe.

mhugradar

I sent him a lengthy email with your bits from above along with images etc .. and the response i got was:

Thank you for your email.

 

Hopefully the appeals process which you say is underway with NCP will resolve the issue.

I even told him the local MP has written to POPLA and i will be writing to the CEO of the Trust, i am refraining from swearing right now ...

mhugradar

I have just emailed the CEO again, and sent the response from James to the CEO, i have also sent the response to the local MP.  and i will now be contacting the local press

MistyZ

Well done.  Was just going to suggest contacting the local press but I see you are on it.

Who are these mythical beings who rush a baby with an oxygen tank to hospital but run around searching high & low for parking terms and conditions, no matter how badly displayed they are?

You will get there with this I feel.  There's a chance POPLA will accept your appeal.  But, if not, one of these other measures will succeed, I'd put good money on it.   I hope your daughter is doing well.