Brighton City Airport (BCA)/ Shoreham Airport fine

nostrawaggus

Hi.

So, first of all, I could have sworn I already posted on here about this, but for hte life of me I cannot find the thread - so either I am loosing my marbles or am living in some sort of parallel universe. lol

A recap of what I thought I posted:

This concerns my friend who is, admittedly, not very good with his/her parking habits (keeping the identity of my friend vague in case the parking company reads this) -

he/she has other cases going on against him/her due to this (one with Stanmer Park yet unresolved and on different thread!).

Yes, I've told him/her off about somewhat frivolous parking habits and hopefully he/she has seen the error of his/her ways going forward.

In a nutshell, a summary so far:

- he/she went to Brighton Airport/Shoreham Airport to treat his/her dad for some breakfast at the Airport Cafe.

- From what I now understand, he/she paid for one hour parking but overstayed - driving off without adjusting the additional parking charge.

- The ticket for the paid stay has not been kept as far as I know.

- The invoice duly arrived for the unpaid overstay.

- It was contested and went to POPLA. POPLA ruled against him/her.

- The Final Demand from OPS has recenlty arrived wanting 80£ to be paid, threatening the debt will be passed to OPS solicitors to commence legal action if not paid within 14 days.

- The driver has not been revealed.

- The driver's son is a blue badge holder.

- Is it worth paying up? He/she has several other various fines already (not all documented on this valued site) and is obvs hesitant for any fines to grow.

Is there any advice for him/her from the valued regulars on this site. I have looked at the other recent thread concerning Shoreham and have sent my friend the link for the

Channel 5 doc. Thank you. We will both watch this.

Many thank yous in advance.!

Fruitcake

It is not a fine.

You don't have another thread for this alleged event, so you are not going mad.
You do have a thread for Stanmer Park.

The friend really needs to be dealing with this, otherwise things will get lost in translation.

There is already another thread about Shoreham Airport that is further down the forum, still on page 1 at the moment, so it will be worth having a look at that. 

Shoreham Airport fine — MoneySavingExpert Forum

The friend should first complain to the landowner and their MP. That is Plan A.
If the son has protected characteristics as defined by the Equality Act 2010 and needs more time to get around, then the airport owners and their agents may have committed indirect discrimination by not making reasonable adjustments for this.

Airport byelaws will probably apply as well so it is important that the driver's identity is not revealed. Failing to pay for parking is not an Airport Byelaw breach. 

There is little the friend can do at this stage other than Plan A, but they really should have a look at the guide to court in the second post of the NEWBIES Announcement, and the Template Defence sticky Announcement so they know what to do if a letter of/before claim or a court claim is received by them.
They should also get photos of the site and signage in readiness.

Coupon-mad

- The driver's son is a blue badge holder.

Was the driver's son in the car?

nostrawaggus

Coupon-mad said:

- The driver's son is a blue badge holder.

Was the driver's son in the car?

Yes, he was.

nostrawaggus

Fruitcake said:

Shoreham Airport fine — MoneySavingExpert Forum

The friend should first complain to the landowner and their MP. That is Plan A.
If the son has protected characteristics as defined by the Equality Act 2010 and needs more time to get around, then the airport owners and their agents may have committed indirect discrimination by not making reasonable adjustments for this.

Airport byelaws will probably apply as well so it is impoetant that the driver's identity is not revealed. Failing to pay for parking is not an Airport Byelaw breach. 

There is little the friend can do at this stage other than Plan A, but they really should have a look at the guide to court in the second post of the NEWBIES Announcement, and the Template Defence sticky Announcement so they know what to do if a letter of/before claim or a court claim is received by them.
They should also get photos of the site and signage in readiness.

Thanks @Fruitcake i Have had a look at this other thread already. So am I correct in understanding the landowner is B&H Council. It will be a nightmare trying to get them to step in, I am sure?! Or would I contact Cyrrus?

On a side note, he/she is awaiting court date allocation for the seperate Stanmer Park event with OPS.

Have yet to update that thread still.

Coupon-mad

You'd contact whoever runs the Airport (AND the Council) and complain that disabled visitors are not being given additional allowances in terms of a reasonable extension to the minimum consideration period and grace period.

Whilst 10 minutes may be enough for an able-bodied person, it is insufficient time for someone with mobility/stamina-affecting protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. 

Failure by a consumer-facing trader and/or their agents to make 'reasonable adjustments' for disabled persons is an offence. The passenger needed more time because (explain... in detail...they are slower to go about daily life etc.) and the Blue Badge - ATTACHED - was on display, which would have alerted any ticket warden on foot but OPS are known to cut corners and rely merely on a blanket 'grace period' and ANPR images that fail to take into account the extra time needs of disabled persons.

This has been tested with a legal case against two Councils, who (along with other Authorities since this test case) now offer an extra hour to Blue Badge holders, over and above paid-for time:
https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/21155017.disabled-campaigners-claim-norwich-parking-victory/

Given the Airport is Council land, and given this law is over twelve years old,  there is no lawful excuse for failing to pay regard to the Equality Act 2010 and allowing a notorious ex-clamper firm to cut corners and apply a 'fixed' grace period, which is illegal and unfair in law.

nostrawaggus

Thanks for your help as always @Coupon-mad.