Stansted Airport NSL PCN - Is the PoFA 2012 "not relevant land" defence still vaild?

rob610183

Apologies if this has already been answered elsewhere, but I'm concerned that there may have been some sort of precedent case recently that I'm not aware of.

Reason being that the wording of the Notice to Keeper I have received is different to one I've seen images of on a previous posting on this forum (Nov '23), for what appears to be an almost identical contravention. 

The one I received states "Parking in a restricted street", (previous one: "Parked in a restricted location")

Most notably, the NTK I received makes no mention of the applicable PoFA 2012 paragraph, whereas the one dating from 2023 does so.

Link to the 2023 NTK: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6483159/nsl-penalty-notice-stansted-airport/p1

Any advice would be most welcome.

Umkomaas

PoFA does not apply at airports where byelaws are in place. If you read the thread you’ve linked, you can see @Coupon-mad’s hands at play. I suspect she had an influence on NSL changing their NtK, rather than any seeing the light or intellectual understanding on the part of NSL!

Appeal as keeper - use the blue text template in NEWBIES FAQ Announcement, post number ONE - no keeper liability, cancel the charge or provide a verification code so that POPLA can do it for you!  No mention of who the driver was.

cooldude255220

Umkomaas said:

PoFA does not apply at airports where byelaws are in place.

That's not exactly correct. POFA applies to relevant land. 

Paragraph 3(1)(c) of Schedule 4 of POFA excludes from the definition of relevant land:

any land (not falling within paragraph (a) or (b)) on which the parking of a vehicle is subject to statutory control.

Paragraph 3(3) provides that:

For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(c) the parking of a vehicle on land is “subject to statutory control” if any statutory provision imposes a liability (whether criminal or civil, and whether in the form of a fee or charge or a penalty of any kind) in respect of the parking on that land of vehicles generally or of vehicles of a description that includes the vehicle in question.

And Paragraph 4(4) provides that:

(4) In sub-paragraph (3) “statutory provision” means any provision (apart from this Schedule) contained in—
    (a) any Act (including a local or private Act), whenever passed; or
    (b) any subordinate legislation, whenever made,
and for this purpose “subordinate legislation” means an Order in Council or any order, regulations, byelaws or other legislative instrument [ , but not byelaws made under section 219 of the Transport Act 20002 by the Strategic Rail Authority, confirmed under Schedule 20 of the Transport Act 2000 and preserved by section 46(4) of the Railways Act 20053 ]

The legislation for airport byelaws is section 63 of the Airports Act 1986 which allows byelaws to be made to regulate conduct of all persons while within the airport. Section 82 defines airport as meaning "the aggregate of the land, buildings and works comprised in an aerodrome...".

A copy of the Stansted byelaws are available here and likewise defines "the Airport" as meaning "the aerodrome known as Stansted Airport - London".

Stansted Airport's Aerodrome Manual includes at 6.5 (page 87) a map of the Aerodrome Boundary:




Although (in the bottom-right) this does include a car park, it does not extend to all of the car parks, and in my view appears not to include Cooper's End Roundabout (which I've drawn a yellow square around) as part of the aerodrome (my red border at bottom)



It appears to me, therefore, that that land is not subject to statutory control and is therefore relevant land under POFA.

OP, I am not saying I'm necessarily right, but I would like to hear counterarguments from those who appear to be more in the know; I'm approaching this from first principles, whereas others here have experience in dealing with these matters. 

ChirpyChicken

Well NSL the parking firm obviously disagree because their notice is now NON POFA
Easy win for the OP
appeal as keeper, then appeal to POPLA on non POFA basis
happy days

cooldude255220

ChirpyChicken said:

Well NSL the parking firm obviously disagree because their notice is now NON POFA
Easy win for the OP
appeal as keeper, then appeal to POPLA on non POFA basis
happy days

In my opinion:

It might be an idea to say it is not clear whether or not the NSL is contending the land is relevant land, but in either event:

If it the land is relevant land then:
1) Notice is out of time:
- The parking event was 28/12/2025.
- The notice needs to be delivered within 14 days.
- The notice therefore needs to have been delivered on or before 11/01/2026.
- The notice is dated 08/01/2026.
- The notice is deemed to be delivered on the second working day after posting.
- 1st working day after posting is Friday 9th Jan. Second working day is Monday 12th Jan. 
- Therefore deemed to have been delivered after the 11th and therefore keeper liability does not attach. 
2) Notice is defective because it does not meet the requirements of paragraph 9 of Schedule 4

If it is not relevant land then:
1) POFA does not apply (and so the keeper cannot have liability); and
2) Stansted's byelaws (unlike the old railway byelaws) do not allow the issuing of notices for a byelaw breach, and nor do they allow the owner or keeper to be pursued for breaches of byelaws. 

cooldude255220

ChirpyChicken said:

No its the issue date of the notice 

What do you mean?

Le_Kirk

With the NTK having been posted on 08/01/26 it is deemed delivered on 12/01/26 and is in time

(5)The relevant period for the purposes of sub-paragraph (4) is the period of 14 days beginning with the day after that on which the specified period of parking ended.

Day of Event	Day after Event	Must be Given by 14 days after	Dated/Posted	Day	Day	Deemed delivered
28/12/2025	29/12/2025	12/01/2026	08/01/2026	4	Thursday	12/01/2026

In my calculations this was given on time.

ChirpyChicken

Le_Kirk said:

With the NTK having been posted on 08/01/26 it is deemed delivered on 12/01/26 and is in time

(5)The relevant period for the purposes of sub-paragraph (4) is the period of 14 days beginning with the day after that on which the specified period of parking ended.

Day of Event	Day after Event	Must be Given by 14 days after	Dated/Posted	Day	Day	Deemed delivered
28/12/2025	29/12/2025	12/01/2026	08/01/2026	4	Thursday	12/01/2026

n my calculations this was given on time.

This isnt relevant anyway as the notice is non POFA:)

cooldude255220

ChirpyChicken said:

cooldude255220 said:

ChirpyChicken said:

No its the issue date of the notice 

What do you mean?

One of the conditions of keeper liability under POFA is a postal PCN is issued within 14 days of the parking event (not relevant to this one in any case) 

Yes, which is what I've talked about in my post? 

Why is it not relevant?

Le_Kirk said:

With the NTK having been posted on 08/01/26 it is deemed delivered on 12/01/26 and is in time

(5)The relevant period for the purposes of sub-paragraph (4) is the period of 14 days beginning with the day after that on which the specified period of parking ended.

Day of Event	Day after Event	Must be Given by 14 days after	Dated/Posted	Day	Day	Deemed delivered
28/12/2025	29/12/2025	12/01/2026	08/01/2026	4	Thursday	12/01/2026

n my calculations this was given on time.

Day 1 29/12/2025
Day 2 30/12/2025
Day 3 31/12/2025
Day 4 01/01/2026
Day 5 02/02/2026
Day 6 03/01/2026
Day 7 04/01/2026
Day 8 05/01/2026
Day 9 06/01/2026
Day 10 07/01/2026
Day 11 08/01/2026
Day 12 09/01/2026
Day 13 10/01/2026
Day 14 11/01/2026

Must arrive on or before 11th, not 12th. 

ChirpyChicken

It is not relevant because if the notice is NON POFA (according to the OP -unless anything on the back) is timescales dont matter in this regard.  It could come two months later for all they care

cooldude255220

ChirpyChicken said:

It is not relevant because if the notice is NON POFA (according to the OP -unless anything on the back) is timescales dont matter in this regard.  It could come two months later for all they care

ChirpyChicken said:

This isnt relevant anyway as the notice is non POFA:)

It's only not relevant if the Notice doesn't need to be POFA-compliant. What are you saying is reason this Notice doesn't need to be POFA-compliant?