PENALTY charge notice - Ealing Council - Parked with one or more wheels on or over a footpath

mustoofa

Penalty Charge Left on Windscreen.

Offense :  Parked with one or more wheels on or over a footpath or any part of a road other than a carriageway

My initial response :

No photographic evidence has been provided to show that the minimum clear footway width has been violated (There were no images uploaded on their parking portal when i challenged this, they however uploaded this later when i challenged them) . There are no street signs to give information to drivers stating where exactly they must park and how far away from the footpath. There are 2 solid white lines, which give the impression that cars must be parked within those lines (in absence of any clear parking restrictions or street signs) . In this case, my car was parked within those lines. If I have to avoid the white lines on the pavement and park solely on the road, then, my car would clearly go beyond the white line on the road, which would again mean a contravention. There seems to be no clear parking instructions or guidance on that road. I was parked in a similar manner to the way other vehicles had parked, to avoid obstructing the road. No pedestrians or pushchairs are able to cross the road as the there is a wall on the other side straddling the A40, so in effect, I was not blocking any pedestrian or pushchair or wheelchair access. I think this charge is invalid

** Did not tick the "I am the registered keeper box" ***

Council response :

Traffic Management Act 2004
Date of Contravention: 09/08/2022 at 14:28
Location of Contravention: Kensington Road (NOR)
Nature of Contravention: 62 Parked with one or more wheels on or over a footpath or any part of a road other than a carriageway
NOTICE OF DECLINE OF CHALLENGE

Thank you for writing to us regarding the above Penalty Charge Notice.

We have carefully considered your challenge, however have decided not to cancel your Penalty Charge Notice (PCN).

You were issued a PCN for parking with one wheel (or more) on the pavement or off the road. Pavement or off-road parking is not allowed unless signs say otherwise. This rule applies 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is enforced because vehicles:
• can get in the way of pedestrians, especially blind people or people with prams; and

• can damage paving or underground pipes.
The rule forbidding off-road parking does not have to be signposted. The enclosed photos help to show why your PCN was issued.

You have these choices:

• You can pay the discount charge of £65.00 if your payment reaches us within 14 days of the date of this letter. If we do not receive payment before the end of the period of 14 days

In my view, I genuinely believe that the council (or the company that manages the council's parking enforcement (taranto) is just trying their luck.

Like other cars, I was parked correctly, albeit one wheel slightly touching the white line, but not a serious offence that attracts a fine in my case. I do plan to take it all the way.

I wanted to know what you guys think of this, if this is winnable or at least worth fighting for

Photos attached.

Fruitcake

Since we specialise in private parking charges on this forum, you would be better going over to our friends on pepipoo.com as they are the council and police motoring experts.

You will need to register on pepipoo with a non-hotmail email address before reading the FAQs, then posting both sides of your PCN with your query.

Coupon-mad

Footway parking (including on a kerb edge) is banned in most (all?) places London unless the sign says you can.  But what on earth are those wayward white lines, bending around trees, meant to be?!

See what pepipoo experts say.

prowla

Are those solid white lines meant to denote parking areas?

Coupon-mad

Odd, isn't it?!  Looks more like a cycle lane or something.

unforeseen

I think the white lines are to help the visually challenged. 

Jenni_D

unforeseen said:

I think the white lines are to help the visually challenged. 

I wondered that - but then I also wondered about the solid white line on the road. If it's a cycle lane then there should be signs to denote this.

I wonder if this is indeed an area where partial kerb parking is allowed, but being on or over the white line on the kerb is an offence? @mustoofa - did those other cars also have windscreen PCNs on them? Also, was the car park just up the way closed/full?

Edit: looking at GSV then the wonky white line denotes the cycle path, which is from the line to the grass verge. There is nothing to denote what the space is between the white lines. This is the start of that road.

mustoofa

Jenni_D said:

unforeseen said:

I think the white lines are to help the visually challenged. 

I wondered that - but then I also wondered about the solid white line on the road. If it's a cycle lane then there should be signs to denote this.

I wonder if this is indeed an area where partial kerb parking is allowed, but being on or over the white line on the kerb is an offence? @mustoofa - did those other cars also have windscreen PCNs on them? Also, was the car park just up the way closed/full?

Edit: looking at GSV then the wonky white line denotes the cycle path, which is from the line to the grass verge. There is nothing to denote what the space is between the white lines. This is the start of that road.

I had a quick gander on the Highway Code and couldn’t find any information pertaining to such white lines. There is a cycle path on the kerb so I’m assuming these 2 white lines are independent of each other. But then the one on the road does not make sense coz it’s not wide enough for a car to be parked next to the kerb… and if it was a red route then it would be marked … red. 

I park here on and off and never got a ticket before. I’ve been there after I got the ticket and it seems tickets aren’t being put randomly on cars. Some cars which have stayed there for longer have got no tickets and some who have just arrived do… all parked within the white lines. 

On pepipoo a lawyer suggested to defend on technicality as the road is an unnamed road but the ticket mentions Kensington road. 

I’ll wait for more suggestions until the NTK arrives. 

I think the council is pulling a fast one. 

Coupon-mad

NTO not NTK.

I think I'd state that the white lines appear to denote a long parking bay that straddles the kerb, thus (to any average observant driver) allowing pavement parking on that kerb. It's not marked as a cycle lane and there are no upright prohibitions or restrictions on any signs.  So of course, drivers will take this to be a long parking bay and you were not outside of it.  Any overlap of the thick white line was de minimis.

Also, if this is an unnamed road is it even within a Traffic Order at all?  If it is, what does the Order say those scrappy white lines mean?

biscan25

I think it's intended to be a contraflow cycle lane. The path isn't wide enough for cyclists to be travelling both ways. There's no signage to that effect however. 
It's clearly not pavement parking though, there's no P signs. 
There's also a single no stopping sign at the entrance to that road 
Maybe the confusion may be enough to win? I'm really not sure though about winning on a technicality. 

Coupon-mad

I think it's likely to be enough for an adjudicator but won't win at first stage appeal.