Clean Air Zone ticket - cannot speak to a human

lindens

At Easter due to bad traffic on the M5 I travelled home(to Wales) via Bristol itself not realising     1. they had introduced a clean air zone and 2  my car wasnt considered clean.
6 weeks later I received a £120 fine, reduced to £60 if I paid immeadiately.
Spotting a small loophole, I appealed on the grounds they had taken too long to send me the ticket (more than 28 days), noticing on that ticket, that if I appealed, they stopped the clock as it were, so that if I were to lose the appeal I could still pay the reduced amount.
I eventually lost the appeal so paid the £60 the day I received that letter.
At the start of August I received a notice that I still owed them £60 (£120 - £60 = £60)and if i didnt pay they would forward me to the debt collectors blah blah. It even says on that letter that if you appeal the clock is stopped!
However I cannot find out how to speak to a human to point out their error. I filled in a standard form about a PCN on Bristol council's website but it says it may take 15 days to respond and it's not far off now.
Anyone got any ideas on my next move, or just sit it out?
Thank you for reading.

KeithP

You have used the word 'they' four times in your post.
Who are 'they'?
Is this anything to do with parking?

lindens

They are Bristol City council.
No,  its travelling through a clean air zone without buying a permit. SHould I be in a different section of the forum?

toby3210

I remember trying to call Bristol City Council once about a separate matter. Went straight through to voicemail, then said it was full. Tried for two weeks and there was no other way of getting through. Appalling service.

MSE_ForumTeam5

We've moved this to the Motoring board

Fruztrated

Everywhere I look it says the Council has 28 days to issue a PCN but Bristol City Council told me they had 6 months to issue a PCN for a clean air zone. Are they right?

Mildly_Miffed

Just avoiding the M5 wouldn't have brought you into Bristol's clean air zone - it only covers a small area of the very centre of the city...


It's been in operation since November 2022, and - as with every other CAZ/ULEZ - only covers cars that don't meet Euro4 (petrol - so about 20 years old) or Euro6 (diesel - so about 10 years old).

https://www.bristol.gov.uk/residents/streets-travel/bristols-caz/charges-and-vehicle-checker

I presume you came in on the A38 from the south? Signage is clear enough.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/stPba7XUL9NJH1Qx5

Okell

Mildly_Miffed said:

Just avoiding the M5 wouldn't have brought you into Bristol's clean air zone - it only covers a small area of the very centre of the city...


It's been in operation since November 2022, and - as with every other CAZ/ULEZ - only covers cars that don't meet Euro4 (petrol - so about 20 years old) or Euro6 (diesel - so about 10 years old).

https://www.bristol.gov.uk/residents/streets-travel/bristols-caz/charges-and-vehicle-checker

I presume you came in on the A38 from the south? Signage is clear enough.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/stPba7XUL9NJH1Qx5

The person you are replying to isn't the person who had to avoid the M5.  

They're two different people.

@Fruztrated decided to add to a tired old thread that had expired rather than starting their own thread...

mdann52

Fruztrated said:

Everywhere I look it says the Council has 28 days to issue a PCN but Bristol City Council told me they had 6 months to issue a PCN for a clean air zone. Are they right?

Yes.

PCNs for this are issued under a different set of regulations, which have no time period specified in them - link

The council cannot have an "undue delay", but 3 months is usually considered the limit of reasonableness, so I think they are in time.

There's no requirement for them to reoffer the discount following the appeal in the charging order, so unless the rejection of representations allows you to pay at the reduced amount, you might be out of luck unfortunately.