Ham & High
Thursday 11 September 2008
Two Town Hall staff suspended
TWO members of staff in the Town Hall’s parking department have been suspended following a complaint from a member of public, it emerged last night (Wednesday).
Mystery surrounds the full details behind the suspensions or what rank the staff involved had reached within the department, although sources suggested they were “senior” figures.
An investigation to establish the facts is understood to have begun on Friday afternoon and a series of internal interviews are likely to be held. A timetable for the probe has not been set out.
Press officials said yesterday that “standard” procedure had kicked in and that it was normal for staff to be suspended following public complaints if there was any potential for the issue to be serious.
But it was made clear that initial checks had not pointed to any “wrong-doing”.
A spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that two members of staff have been suspended following an external complaint – this is in line with standard council procedures. At this time there is no indication of any wrong doing.
“The next step is for the council to carry out a full investigation.”
The suspensions cap a turbulent month for Camden’s parking services. Earlier this month a parking warden was arrested after allegedly punching a driver in Gospel Oak.
He pleaded not guilty and a court hearing is due to be held later this year.
Camden New Journal
Mystery surrounds the full details behind the suspensions or what rank the staff involved had reached within the department, although sources suggested they were “senior” figures.
An investigation to establish the facts is understood to have begun on Friday afternoon and a series of internal interviews are likely to be held. A timetable for the probe has not been set out.
Press officials said yesterday that “standard” procedure had kicked in and that it was normal for staff to be suspended following public complaints if there was any potential for the issue to be serious.
But it was made clear that initial checks had not pointed to any “wrong-doing”.
A spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that two members of staff have been suspended following an external complaint – this is in line with standard council procedures. At this time there is no indication of any wrong doing.
“The next step is for the council to carry out a full investigation.”
The suspensions cap a turbulent month for Camden’s parking services. Earlier this month a parking warden was arrested after allegedly punching a driver in Gospel Oak.
He pleaded not guilty and a court hearing is due to be held later this year.
Camden New Journal
Mike Greene is joining his family in Bournemouth
Mike Greene is joining his family in Bournemouth
Greene man heads for sea, sparking by-election battle
Tories’ environment supremo leaves Town Hall and moves to coast
ONE of the best-known councillors in Camden’s recent history has quit the Town Hall to join his family in Bournemouth.
Conservative environment supremo Mike Greene has already cleared his desk following six years as a councillor for Hampstead Town, two of them as a cabinet member in Camden’s Liberal Democrat and Conservative coalition.
Councillor Chris Knight has been promoted to the executive to fill the gap.
With his playful banter and neighbourly knowledge of the Hampstead streets he represented, some have suggested that Mr Greene is better known than some of the councillors who have occupied the leader’s office at the Town Hall.
Rival councillors were happy to gossip over a pint with him and it was a matter of pride that nobody scooped as many votes as Mr Greene at the last borough-wide elections – especially as the ward had previously been a stronghold for the Lib Dems.
While colleagues met his resignation on Monday with tributes, his departure has now set up an intriguing by-election which will pit the two sides of the coalition together in close conflict.
Labour councillor Jonathan Simpson predicted “open warfare”.
“Mike will be missed,” he added. “He was definitely one of their big-hitters and the Conservatives will find it difficult to replace him. It will be interesting to see how the coalition sticks together.”
It has been the worst-kept secret at the Town Hall that Mr Greene had dreamt of spending more time in the seaside town where the rest of his family live. His wife is a Bournemouth councillor and he recently lobbied to become the Tories’ prospective parliamentary candidate in the town.
“The selection process made things clear in my mind that I couldn’t carry on representing Hampstead when the rest of my life was in Bournemouth,” said Mr Greene. “The people in Hampstead deserve someone who can be there all the time.”
He said he had taken one last drive around Hampstead before taking a holiday, bristling with personal pride as he passed by his “achievements”.
“It wasn’t just me that worked on it, but when I went past South End Green and I thought I played my part in improving the area and wondered whether it would have been the same if I hadn’t,” said Mr Greene.
“I think on the executive I have instilled some Conservative values. We have not interfered as the previous administrations have – we let people get on with what they want to do.”
Mr Greene, who had a prior stint on the council representing Frognal, said he had thought about having a crack at taking on Labour MP Glenda Jackson in the new Hampstead and Kilburn ward, but decided against challenging candidate Chris Philp in an open primary last year.
“I said to myself, ‘if I have parliamentary ambitions they lie in Bournemouth’,” he said. “I will miss Hampstead. It has been a big part of my life, but the time had come to move on.”
Mr Greene missed a big chance to get the candidacy on the south coast earlier this summer, but the process was re-started when his main rival pulled out at the last minute. He said he didn’t expect to win the re-run.
Conservative leader Councillor Andrew Marshall said: “Mike Greene has served with great verve and dedication.
“He’s delivered substantial results across street-scape and public realm improvements, sustainability and recycling, improving planning and licensing policy, and measures to promote walking, cycling and public transport.”
Camden New Journal
Greene man heads for sea, sparking by-election battle
Tories’ environment supremo leaves Town Hall and moves to coast
ONE of the best-known councillors in Camden’s recent history has quit the Town Hall to join his family in Bournemouth.
Conservative environment supremo Mike Greene has already cleared his desk following six years as a councillor for Hampstead Town, two of them as a cabinet member in Camden’s Liberal Democrat and Conservative coalition.
Councillor Chris Knight has been promoted to the executive to fill the gap.
With his playful banter and neighbourly knowledge of the Hampstead streets he represented, some have suggested that Mr Greene is better known than some of the councillors who have occupied the leader’s office at the Town Hall.
Rival councillors were happy to gossip over a pint with him and it was a matter of pride that nobody scooped as many votes as Mr Greene at the last borough-wide elections – especially as the ward had previously been a stronghold for the Lib Dems.
While colleagues met his resignation on Monday with tributes, his departure has now set up an intriguing by-election which will pit the two sides of the coalition together in close conflict.
Labour councillor Jonathan Simpson predicted “open warfare”.
“Mike will be missed,” he added. “He was definitely one of their big-hitters and the Conservatives will find it difficult to replace him. It will be interesting to see how the coalition sticks together.”
It has been the worst-kept secret at the Town Hall that Mr Greene had dreamt of spending more time in the seaside town where the rest of his family live. His wife is a Bournemouth councillor and he recently lobbied to become the Tories’ prospective parliamentary candidate in the town.
“The selection process made things clear in my mind that I couldn’t carry on representing Hampstead when the rest of my life was in Bournemouth,” said Mr Greene. “The people in Hampstead deserve someone who can be there all the time.”
He said he had taken one last drive around Hampstead before taking a holiday, bristling with personal pride as he passed by his “achievements”.
“It wasn’t just me that worked on it, but when I went past South End Green and I thought I played my part in improving the area and wondered whether it would have been the same if I hadn’t,” said Mr Greene.
“I think on the executive I have instilled some Conservative values. We have not interfered as the previous administrations have – we let people get on with what they want to do.”
Mr Greene, who had a prior stint on the council representing Frognal, said he had thought about having a crack at taking on Labour MP Glenda Jackson in the new Hampstead and Kilburn ward, but decided against challenging candidate Chris Philp in an open primary last year.
“I said to myself, ‘if I have parliamentary ambitions they lie in Bournemouth’,” he said. “I will miss Hampstead. It has been a big part of my life, but the time had come to move on.”
Mr Greene missed a big chance to get the candidacy on the south coast earlier this summer, but the process was re-started when his main rival pulled out at the last minute. He said he didn’t expect to win the re-run.
Conservative leader Councillor Andrew Marshall said: “Mike Greene has served with great verve and dedication.
“He’s delivered substantial results across street-scape and public realm improvements, sustainability and recycling, improving planning and licensing policy, and measures to promote walking, cycling and public transport.”
Camden New Journal
Monday 9 June 2008
Busted again? The wardens ‘parking’ on yellow lines
Angry motorists hit the street with their cameras and catch ‘illegally’ parked CCTV cars
IF you thought drivers hated getting stung with a parking ticket more than anything else, think again.
What they really hate, it turns out, is watching Camden’s parking wardens helping themselves to the borough’s best parking spots – yellow lines or no yellow lines.
The hunted became the hunters this week when a host of drivers sent in pictures of the Town Hall’s CCTV enforcement cars parking up in spots that would be out of bounds to any other vehicle.
It follows the New Journal’s scoop picture last week which showed how one of the cars, which are supposed to be roving Camden in search of rule-breaking drivers, sat stationary in College Crescent, Swiss Cottage.
Parking chiefs last night (Wednesday) defiantly insisted their cars could park where they liked as long as it was in the line of duty.
They said investigations would only be launched if wardens were found to be acting inappropriately – for example, if a driver was found having a quick snooze in the front seat.
But the explanation does not wash with motorists who believe it’s just a case of one law for them, and another for the council.
Fred Johnson, who grabbed photos of a CCTV car in Compayne Gardens, West Hampstead, last Wednesday afternoon (see above), said: “Ironically, there was a parking warden issuing penalty notices nearby and when I pointed out that he should be issuing a ticket to his comrades, he looked at me as if I was asking him to murder his mother.”
The car has already been photographed parking on double yellows in Englands Lane in Belsize Park – a neighbourhood where spaces to park are at a premium and finding one is a daily scramble.
This week’s batch of photos fired through to the New Journal included several snaps captured in Camley Street, King’s Cross, where wardens have regularly enjoyed the luxury of parking on double yellows in an otherwise empty road over the past few months.
A council press official said yesterday that there was specific enforcement action being taken around Camley Street because drivers were flouting the rules.
She said: “Certain council vehicles carry a permit which enables them to park anywhere in the borough, including on double yellow lines if it is for the purpose of carrying out enforcement duties.
“Our drivers have strict instructions that they should only park on double yellows when it is both necessary and safe for them to do so.”
Revealed: The security camera raking in £100k a year in fines
NEW statistics show a spy camera put up in Hampstead on the premise that businesses needed extra protection from crime is raking in at least £110,000 every year in fines by being turned on drivers.
Figures released to the New Journal under the Freedom of Information Act show the camera on the junction of Hampstead High Street and Perrin’s Lane has been used to clamp down on motorists making a No Right Turn rather than catching shoplifters.
Camden issued 2,748 penalty fines, which works out to around 52 tickets a week. Over a year, the council will have collected at least £109,920. The final collection is likely to be higher because £40 fines rise to £80 if they are not paid within a fortnight.
The level of fines is not as prolific as the 4,000 tickets dished out in the first four months that it overlooked the junction and are on a slow decline – but the figures still make it one of the parking department’s biggest money-spinners.
The installation of the camera was at the centre of hot debate three years ago when the former Labour administration was lobbied hard by residents and businesses who wanted the added protection of CCTV in Hampstead High Street following a series of break-ins.
The Town Hall agreed, but months later Conservative councillor Mike Greene said the council was using the camera for a different purpose altogether, warning: “Camden seems to be milking it for all it’s worth.”
Ironically, a change of power at the Town Hall later saw Cllr Greene become Camden’s environment chief and in control of the borough’s parking policies.
“I find it amazing that people haven’t learned about the No Right Turn,” he said when he was shown the number of fines still being issued from the camera last year.
£109,920 - The minimum amount of money the Perrin’s Lane CCTV camera nets the council each year
2,748 - The number of penalty fines issued to motorists for making a No Right Turn
52 - The number of tickets issued each week
£80 - The cost of the fines if they are not paid within two weeks
Camden New Journal
CCTV Smart car Caught in the act?
Investigation launched as traffic wardens are snapped ‘parking’ on double-yellow lines
PLEASE guv, I was only there for a minute – can’t you let me off, just this once.
Parking chiefs have heard every excuse a million times but they were frantically checking their own records this week to see whether there were any possible grounds for appeal in a particularly sensitive case.
As this picture shows, the Town Hall’s own parking enforcement car appears to have been caught out slap bang on the middle of two fat yellow lines.
The Smart car, which zips around the borough filming motorists making mistakes and parking in the wrong places, was spotted in College Crescent, Swiss Cottage, on May 14. Camden has checked the authenticity of the photograph and said it is now the subject of an internal inquiry.
Enforcement teams will have to explain why the car stopped there and what staff were doing inside. A spokesman said disciplinary action would be taken if necessary.
The picture was captured and sent to the New Journal by a passing driver – who just moments before taking the photo had been stung with a £40 penalty by wardens for overstaying in a residents’ bay for just four minutes. The photographer said: “I drove up the road looking for somewhere to park. As I passed them, I remember thinking it would be nice if I could park like that.
“One wonders whether there is one law for Camden and one for the poor residents whose sole role is to support them.”
He added: “I am not really angry – I just believe that we vote for governments and councils to be honest, open, intelligent and to be working for the betterment of the voters. Sadly, the reverse seems to be the case and I get every impression that both government and councils are not very honest.”
A Camden press official said: “Our drivers have strict instructions that they should only park on double yellows when it is both necessary and safe for them do so.
“We expect the highest standard of conduct from our staff and contractors.
“We have started an investigation into the incident shown in the photograph and will take formal disciplinary action if necessary.”
Camden New Journal
Friday 2 May 2008
Spy cameras make a million in one street
Camden Gazette reports
A ROAD where sneaky CCTV cameras hit illegally parked drivers with more than £1million in fines in a year has been revealed.
There are at least seven fixed CCTV cameras spying on errant motorists in Kentish Town Road - and, in 2007, they were responsible for the issuing of £1.09million in fines.
In total, fixed CCTV cameras pointed at the borough's drivers - trained to catch people parked illegally and also those doing banned turns, blocking box junctions or straying into forbidden bus lanes - issued more than £9.2million in fines from 139,828 tickets last year.
This is the equivalent to one fine being dished out every four minutes.
And the most costly spot for motorists overall was Southampton Row, Bloomsbury.
There fixed CCTV cameras clocked up a staggering £2.5million in fines last year - around £1.6million for moving traffic offences such as banned turns, around £612,000 for going into bus lanes and around £234,000 for parking illegally.
Barrie Segal, who runs the UK-wide AppealNow.com website, said: "I think readers will be absolutely astonished. It's an incredible figure.
"I believe the cameras are being used as 'a shoot first, ask questions later' enforcement, which I think is illegal.
"The guidance to local authorities is that CCTV cameras should only be used where it's inappropriate for parking attendants to patrol."
The figures were obtained by the Gazette under the Freedom of Information Act. They showed that around 130 fixed CCTV cameras issued driving fines across more than 160 different roads last year - although they are also used to help catch criminals.
In the 2006-7 financial year, CCTV cameras and cars were responsible for almost a third of the tickets issued to motorists.
Shopkeepers in Kentish Town Road were appalled that their road had issued so many CCTV fines to people stopping on yellow lines - but not surprised.
Traders have long complained that the cameras are putting off customers and strangling business.
Ashley Lambert, the manager of Discount Furniture in Kentish Town Road, Kentish Town, said the shop could end up closing.
He said: "We get tickets all the time and our customers get tickets all the time.
"We can probably stick it out for another year but if business keeps going down we won't be here - and we have been here for 15 years. Last year business was down 20 per cent on the year before because of the parking issue."
Kynn Darkwa, sales assistant of Carpetright in Kentish Town Road, said: "I was transferred here because the shop was struggling. But we are still struggling - and it's because of the parking."
Luciano Zazzi, manager of Franchi Locks and Tools in Kentish Town Road, added: "I am shocked by the figure. I didn't expect it to be so high. Local government has sacrificed local businesses for extra finance.
"Most of the time, people are stopping for just a couple of minutes."
But a Camden Council spokesman said: " We enforce parking rules to make the borough's roads safer for everyone who uses them, to protect scarce parking spaces for those who have a right to park there, and to reduce congestion and keep traffic flowing.
"Kentish Town Road is very narrow and busy. We need to provide space for businesses to load without adding to congestion and this restricts the amount of parking that can be provided.
"Three years ago we reviewed the parking and loading restrictions in and around Kentish Town Road. We relaxed the loading restrictions and introduced pay and display parking where we could - often in the side streets."
Tickets and fines racked up by fixed CCTV cameras in Camden in 2007
THE TOP THREE - ALL PARKING, MOVING TRAFFIC AND BUS LANE OFFENCES
Location Tickets Value
Southampton Row, WC1 23,762 £2,460,470
Grafton Road, NW5 12,564 £1,257,100
Kentish Town Road, NW1 and NW5 10,707 £1,171,520
All 139,828 £9,263,960
THE TOP THREE - PARKING
Location Tickets Value
Kentish Town Road, NW1 and NW5 9,897 £1,090,220
Fortess Road, NW5 4,033 £437,220
Kingsway, WC2 3,373 £364,160
All 47,964 £5,326,560
THE TOP THREE - MOVING TRAFFIC
Location Tickets Value
Southampton Row, WC1 16,141 £1,614,100
Grafton Road, NW5 12,504 £1,250,400
Boswell Street, WC1 8,313 £831,300
All 80,237 £1,987,700
THE TOP THREE - BUS LANES
Location Tickets Value
Kilburn High Road, NW6 1,618 £819,610
Southampton Row, WC1 5,386 £612,350
Haverstock Hill, NW3 1,842 £208,800
All 11,627 £1,949,700
A ROAD where sneaky CCTV cameras hit illegally parked drivers with more than £1million in fines in a year has been revealed.
There are at least seven fixed CCTV cameras spying on errant motorists in Kentish Town Road - and, in 2007, they were responsible for the issuing of £1.09million in fines.
In total, fixed CCTV cameras pointed at the borough's drivers - trained to catch people parked illegally and also those doing banned turns, blocking box junctions or straying into forbidden bus lanes - issued more than £9.2million in fines from 139,828 tickets last year.
This is the equivalent to one fine being dished out every four minutes.
And the most costly spot for motorists overall was Southampton Row, Bloomsbury.
There fixed CCTV cameras clocked up a staggering £2.5million in fines last year - around £1.6million for moving traffic offences such as banned turns, around £612,000 for going into bus lanes and around £234,000 for parking illegally.
Barrie Segal, who runs the UK-wide AppealNow.com website, said: "I think readers will be absolutely astonished. It's an incredible figure.
"I believe the cameras are being used as 'a shoot first, ask questions later' enforcement, which I think is illegal.
"The guidance to local authorities is that CCTV cameras should only be used where it's inappropriate for parking attendants to patrol."
The figures were obtained by the Gazette under the Freedom of Information Act. They showed that around 130 fixed CCTV cameras issued driving fines across more than 160 different roads last year - although they are also used to help catch criminals.
In the 2006-7 financial year, CCTV cameras and cars were responsible for almost a third of the tickets issued to motorists.
Shopkeepers in Kentish Town Road were appalled that their road had issued so many CCTV fines to people stopping on yellow lines - but not surprised.
Traders have long complained that the cameras are putting off customers and strangling business.
Ashley Lambert, the manager of Discount Furniture in Kentish Town Road, Kentish Town, said the shop could end up closing.
He said: "We get tickets all the time and our customers get tickets all the time.
"We can probably stick it out for another year but if business keeps going down we won't be here - and we have been here for 15 years. Last year business was down 20 per cent on the year before because of the parking issue."
Kynn Darkwa, sales assistant of Carpetright in Kentish Town Road, said: "I was transferred here because the shop was struggling. But we are still struggling - and it's because of the parking."
Luciano Zazzi, manager of Franchi Locks and Tools in Kentish Town Road, added: "I am shocked by the figure. I didn't expect it to be so high. Local government has sacrificed local businesses for extra finance.
"Most of the time, people are stopping for just a couple of minutes."
But a Camden Council spokesman said: " We enforce parking rules to make the borough's roads safer for everyone who uses them, to protect scarce parking spaces for those who have a right to park there, and to reduce congestion and keep traffic flowing.
"Kentish Town Road is very narrow and busy. We need to provide space for businesses to load without adding to congestion and this restricts the amount of parking that can be provided.
"Three years ago we reviewed the parking and loading restrictions in and around Kentish Town Road. We relaxed the loading restrictions and introduced pay and display parking where we could - often in the side streets."
Tickets and fines racked up by fixed CCTV cameras in Camden in 2007
THE TOP THREE - ALL PARKING, MOVING TRAFFIC AND BUS LANE OFFENCES
Location Tickets Value
Southampton Row, WC1 23,762 £2,460,470
Grafton Road, NW5 12,564 £1,257,100
Kentish Town Road, NW1 and NW5 10,707 £1,171,520
All 139,828 £9,263,960
THE TOP THREE - PARKING
Location Tickets Value
Kentish Town Road, NW1 and NW5 9,897 £1,090,220
Fortess Road, NW5 4,033 £437,220
Kingsway, WC2 3,373 £364,160
All 47,964 £5,326,560
THE TOP THREE - MOVING TRAFFIC
Location Tickets Value
Southampton Row, WC1 16,141 £1,614,100
Grafton Road, NW5 12,504 £1,250,400
Boswell Street, WC1 8,313 £831,300
All 80,237 £1,987,700
THE TOP THREE - BUS LANES
Location Tickets Value
Kilburn High Road, NW6 1,618 £819,610
Southampton Row, WC1 5,386 £612,350
Haverstock Hill, NW3 1,842 £208,800
All 11,627 £1,949,700
Builder is ready to construct case against parking rules
Ham & High reports
BUILDING firms have hit the roof over Camden's parking policies, with one firm vowing to take the council to the High Court.
Workmen are finding the spiralling cost of builders' permits too expensive and say they are crippling their trade.
Richard Chaumeton, who runs DG Builders in Grafton Road, Kentish Town, has been slapped with more than 100 parking tickets and believes the council is using parking penalties merely to line its coffers.
In a letter addressed to council leader Keith Moffitt, Mr Chaumeton also criticises the high cost of builders' permits, which he estimates have risen by more than 650 per cent in two and a half years.
"I'm going to start legal action - either a judicial review or a straight action," he said.
"I'm going to issue a High Court summons against the council and its parking services because they are using the process to earn an income.
"This is against the law and in doing this they are behaving in a vexatious manner and abusing their position of office."
In April 2005 it cost £5 a day for a builder's permit. But from this month the price has risen to £33 a day - a cost that is passed on to clients.
In his letter to Cllr Moffitt, Mr Chaumeton said: "Can I suggest you rename the department 'Parking Mugging Services' because I don't really find that you do anyone a service - especially the ratepayers that have building work on their houses."
Mr Chaumeton also believes that by only offering permits by the day rather than by the hour the council is deliberately trying to rake in more cash.
Despite accruing so many parking tickets, the builder has only paid five fines - two of which he admits were legitimate. He said parking officers who know him no longer bother to issue him with parking tickets.
"I say to them go on - give me a ticket, but they don't. Why am I different to anyone else?" he said.
Jack McFadyen, director of JMF Joinery with offices in South Hill Park, also disagrees with the way the builders' permit system is managed.
He said: "The increased cost doesn't affect me directly, but it's definitely unfair on the taxpayer and I'm sure a lot of it is to do with revenue.
"I don't think the system itself is unfair but the way it's managed is. In terms of the parking ticket situation in general it's very frustrating if you're in a service industry like this.
"You constantly have to run around with pound coins in your pocket and it just makes everything that little bit more stressful."
A Camden Council spokesman said the change in the price of builders' permits was introduced alongside other measures to improve the flexibility of the scheme.
He said: "We enforce parking rules to make the borough's roads safer for everyone who uses them, to protect scarce parking spaces for those who have a right to park there and to reduce congestion and keep traffic flowing.
"We utterly refute any suggestion they are used simply to raise revenue - road casualty statistics in Camden fell to their lowest ever level last year, with no recorded child fatalities."
Mr Chaumeton is urging people who have had similar experiences to contact him, by emailing richardchaumeton@yahoo.co.uk.
o For more information on contesting parking fines you can visit www.parkingappeals.co.uk.
BUILDING firms have hit the roof over Camden's parking policies, with one firm vowing to take the council to the High Court.
Workmen are finding the spiralling cost of builders' permits too expensive and say they are crippling their trade.
Richard Chaumeton, who runs DG Builders in Grafton Road, Kentish Town, has been slapped with more than 100 parking tickets and believes the council is using parking penalties merely to line its coffers.
In a letter addressed to council leader Keith Moffitt, Mr Chaumeton also criticises the high cost of builders' permits, which he estimates have risen by more than 650 per cent in two and a half years.
"I'm going to start legal action - either a judicial review or a straight action," he said.
"I'm going to issue a High Court summons against the council and its parking services because they are using the process to earn an income.
"This is against the law and in doing this they are behaving in a vexatious manner and abusing their position of office."
In April 2005 it cost £5 a day for a builder's permit. But from this month the price has risen to £33 a day - a cost that is passed on to clients.
In his letter to Cllr Moffitt, Mr Chaumeton said: "Can I suggest you rename the department 'Parking Mugging Services' because I don't really find that you do anyone a service - especially the ratepayers that have building work on their houses."
Mr Chaumeton also believes that by only offering permits by the day rather than by the hour the council is deliberately trying to rake in more cash.
Despite accruing so many parking tickets, the builder has only paid five fines - two of which he admits were legitimate. He said parking officers who know him no longer bother to issue him with parking tickets.
"I say to them go on - give me a ticket, but they don't. Why am I different to anyone else?" he said.
Jack McFadyen, director of JMF Joinery with offices in South Hill Park, also disagrees with the way the builders' permit system is managed.
He said: "The increased cost doesn't affect me directly, but it's definitely unfair on the taxpayer and I'm sure a lot of it is to do with revenue.
"I don't think the system itself is unfair but the way it's managed is. In terms of the parking ticket situation in general it's very frustrating if you're in a service industry like this.
"You constantly have to run around with pound coins in your pocket and it just makes everything that little bit more stressful."
A Camden Council spokesman said the change in the price of builders' permits was introduced alongside other measures to improve the flexibility of the scheme.
He said: "We enforce parking rules to make the borough's roads safer for everyone who uses them, to protect scarce parking spaces for those who have a right to park there and to reduce congestion and keep traffic flowing.
"We utterly refute any suggestion they are used simply to raise revenue - road casualty statistics in Camden fell to their lowest ever level last year, with no recorded child fatalities."
Mr Chaumeton is urging people who have had similar experiences to contact him, by emailing richardchaumeton@yahoo.co.uk.
o For more information on contesting parking fines you can visit www.parkingappeals.co.uk.
Saturday 26 April 2008
Thursday 24 April 2008
Wednesday 23 April 2008
10,000 parking fines 'are invalid because of rule changes'
Evening Standard - 10,000 parking fines 'are invalid because of rule changes'
David Williams, Motoring Editor
22.04.08
David Williams, Motoring Editor
22.04.08
Thousands of parking tickets should be scrapped because they were issued under the "wrong" regulations, campaigners said today.
About 10,000 fines were handed out in Camden after new rules came into effect on 31 March. On that day, parking attendants became "civil enforcement officers" and councils had to pass new Traffic Management Orders to make their work legal, according to campaign group ParkingAppeals. Instead, it claims, Camden continued to issue penalties under the old legislation.
The group's founder, Neil Herron, says the council issued faulty tickets for 18 days for parking meter and pay and display "offences" - and that unenforceable tickets are still being issued for yellow line offences. He is threatening to take Camden to court unless it overturns the fines.
A spokesman for Camden council said: "We are confident we have acted lawfully. The power to make Traffic Management Orders is conferred by the Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984. Therefore the changes brought about by the Traffic Management Act 2004, which deal with the enforcement of parking contraventions, do not affect the validity of our existing Traffic Management Orders."
Tuesday 22 April 2008
It always hurts
If you have had a Penalty Charge Notice in Camden then you will be pleased to know that the majority of their restrictions are unenforceable.
If you had a ticket in a parking place between 31st March and 17th April 2008 ... there are even more problems for the council.
If you have had a ticket on a yellow line since then you will be pleased to know that the CPZs are incorrectly signed.
If you have had a yellow line ticket since 31st March 2008 then you need to click the image on the left to find out why you should appeals.
Knowledge is power ... this will be the best (and most satisfying) £9.99 you have ever spent.
Saturday 19 April 2008
Parking Appeals 8 week focus on Camden
Over the next eight weeks Parking Appeals is going to focus on the illegal signs and lines in the London Borough of Camden.
The examples we give of unlawful signs are equally applicable across the whole of the country.
Remember ... Knowledge is power!
What we find outrageous is that the councils are fully aware of the legislation but rely on your lack of knowledge to enforce signs and lines they know to be illegal.
Parking Appeals shows you how to appeal tickets issued in locations like the ones shown.
Is it acceptable that they will cancel tickets for those who know the law but keep the money from those who don't?
As part of our series of reports we will reveal how Camden Council's total disregard for the law and reckless indifference to the plight of motorists and residents alike has led to tens of thousands of motorists being fined illegally.
More inside the site ... and details of how you can appeal successfully in every instance.
Conti and Aaronovitch: a modern day version of pistols at dawn
The verbal jousting between journalist David Aaronovitch and actor Tom Conti has been richly entertaining. Why wouldn't it be? When two talented, articulate people fall out so publicly, all you need do is stand back and enjoy.
In case you're only just back from a week's holiday at Terminal 5 and wonder what this is about, it was Mr Aaronovitch who started the war of words at a public gathering by calling Mr Conti a 'ridiculous actor - a bloody nuisance' who ran to the papers every time someone tried to interfere with his 'bloody motor car'.
Back came Mr Conti, questioning his attacker's journalistic credentials by accusing him of misrepresentation, inaccuracy and, best of all, 'emotional vomit'.
It's great stuff. One writer to this newspaper suggests that in a more chivalrous age, it's a row that could only have been settled by the employment of pistols at dawn. Maybe not: duelling etiquette had it that only 'real gentlemen' were qualified to duel. If a gentleman was insulted by a person of 'lower class', he 'would not duel him' but would 'beat him with a cane, riding crop, or whip, or have his servants do so'.
Now Mr Conti may have bona fide claims to being something of a gentleman, but Mr Aaronovitch does not. He's a journalist.
The whole affair is far too entertaining to be reduced to an argument about rights and wrongs. But if forced to take sides, I'd have to be with Mr Conti, and not just because this newspaper has also been on the wrong side of one of Mr Aaronovitch's ill-considered attacks prompted by our criticism of Camden's chaotic parking enforcement.
For starters, it's pretty daft for him to chide his rival for 'running to the newspapers' when he himself walks, runs, cycles or, for all I know, paraglides to a newspaper office on a regular basis to earn a living.
Anyway, journalists should treasure people who knock on our doors. How else would we know what is going on in the real world?
On traffic issues, Mr Conti identifies with very tangible public frustrations. Mr Aaronovitch identifies with a pie-in-the-sky, fairies-at-the-bottom-of-the-garden kind of vision in which all traffic is banned around the Heath except for ''a circular tram system all the way around, letting people get on and off where they want to - completely wonderful.'' Had I read that on Tuesday, it would have seemed like an implausible April Fool spoof.
Nor would his description of Mr Conti as 'a bloody nuisance' be recognised by the many people the local actor has helped for very many reasons and in very many ways - without ever 'running to the papers' or seeking even a sliver of public recognition.
Ham & High
Camden political spatting over parking reveals accounting "errors"
Cllr Penny Abraham Shadow Executive Member for Environment, Camden Council wrote a public letter in the Ham & High last week questioning Camdens new "fairer parking policy".
The following week Mike Greene responded blaming the apparent $4 million increase in revenue on an "accounting mistake under the previous Labour administration".
Cllr Penny Abraham's letter
THE Lib Dems and Tories campaigned on 'fairer parking policies' in the local election of 2006. Now we learn that Camden's parking revenue has gone up by a staggering 22 per cent in two years, since they took over.
Last year, 559,156 parking tickets were issued, and £22.7million. brought in to the council's coffers - an increase of £4million on the last year. This is the biggest rise next to that in neighbouring Westminster. Does this sound like a 'fairer parking policy'?
You would think that, with all the talk about getting cars off the road for the sake of the environment, there should be fewer tickets, not more! This sounds as if the new administration is saying one thing and doing another. And let's hear specifically what the additional £4million is to be spent on.
Cllr Penny Abraham
Shadow Executive Member for Environment, Camden Council
Mike Greene's response defending Camden's parking enforcement policy
I would like to respond to Labour councillor Penny Abraham (H&H letters February 7) regarding the apparent increase in parking revenues in 2006/07 compared with the previous year. In particular she states ''there should be fewer parking tickets, not more!''
Quite right... and there were indeed fewer tickets issued under the first year of our administration than either of the previous two when Labour was in charge: 20,000 fewer.
It is surprising as shadow executive member for environment that Cllr Abraham seems to have forgotten that the £4million 'increase' in revenue was almost entirely due to an accounting mistake under the previous Labour administration, which led to a massive under-reporting of revenue for 2005/06 - a year in which more tickets were handed out than any year before or since. That is why 2006/07 revenue looked higher than the previous year, even though fewer tickets were issued.
Additionally, the percentage of people actually paying the fines received has also improved for a number of reasons. For example, all parking attendants now have digital cameras, which provide better proof of a contravention and reduce the likelihood of disputes.
We also introduced a new parking management system which means cases are progressed more swiftly.
The council does not enforce parking regulations to make money. Parking rules are there to make the roads safer, to protect scarce parking spaces for those who have a right to park there (such as residents, disabled drivers and shoppers who pay for Pay and Display), and reduce congestion and keep traffic flowing in what is one of the busiest and biggest boroughs in London.
Money raised by parking goes straight back into improving services. Specific examples include a contribution to the major Kentish Town and Chalk Farm town centre improvements and new security devices at motorcycle bays to reduce thefts. Money is also spent on providing the freedom pass to pensioners, on home-to-school transport, on maintaining parking facilities and on highway improvement schemes.
As a council we are committed to offering a fair deal on parking. There is still work to be done, but over the past year and a half we have achieved a great deal that rarely receives acknowledgment, including:
A new mobile patrol unit to monitor suspended bays and release them back into use more quickly
Agreeing innovative solutions to suspended parking bay problems such as e-mail alerts to notify drivers about suspensions in particular areas
Giving permit holders seven days' grace before towing away their car if their permit has expired
Effectively ending all car clamping (disabled badge fraud and persistent offenders excepted)
Reducing towing by 60 per cent.
Trialling cash-free Chip and PIN meters to make life easier for drivers using pay and display bays
Piloting the introduction of parking permits for visitors south of Euston Road and extending permits for those visiting elderly or housebound residents across the borough
Publishing guides for drivers on how to avoid getting a ticket and how to understand the appeals system
If only Labour had a similar story to tell of any 18-month period during their 36 years in office!
Cllr Mike Greene
Executive Member, Environment, Camden Council
The following week Mike Greene responded blaming the apparent $4 million increase in revenue on an "accounting mistake under the previous Labour administration".
Cllr Penny Abraham's letter
THE Lib Dems and Tories campaigned on 'fairer parking policies' in the local election of 2006. Now we learn that Camden's parking revenue has gone up by a staggering 22 per cent in two years, since they took over.
Last year, 559,156 parking tickets were issued, and £22.7million. brought in to the council's coffers - an increase of £4million on the last year. This is the biggest rise next to that in neighbouring Westminster. Does this sound like a 'fairer parking policy'?
You would think that, with all the talk about getting cars off the road for the sake of the environment, there should be fewer tickets, not more! This sounds as if the new administration is saying one thing and doing another. And let's hear specifically what the additional £4million is to be spent on.
Cllr Penny Abraham
Shadow Executive Member for Environment, Camden Council
Mike Greene's response defending Camden's parking enforcement policy
I would like to respond to Labour councillor Penny Abraham (H&H letters February 7) regarding the apparent increase in parking revenues in 2006/07 compared with the previous year. In particular she states ''there should be fewer parking tickets, not more!''
Quite right... and there were indeed fewer tickets issued under the first year of our administration than either of the previous two when Labour was in charge: 20,000 fewer.
It is surprising as shadow executive member for environment that Cllr Abraham seems to have forgotten that the £4million 'increase' in revenue was almost entirely due to an accounting mistake under the previous Labour administration, which led to a massive under-reporting of revenue for 2005/06 - a year in which more tickets were handed out than any year before or since. That is why 2006/07 revenue looked higher than the previous year, even though fewer tickets were issued.
Additionally, the percentage of people actually paying the fines received has also improved for a number of reasons. For example, all parking attendants now have digital cameras, which provide better proof of a contravention and reduce the likelihood of disputes.
We also introduced a new parking management system which means cases are progressed more swiftly.
The council does not enforce parking regulations to make money. Parking rules are there to make the roads safer, to protect scarce parking spaces for those who have a right to park there (such as residents, disabled drivers and shoppers who pay for Pay and Display), and reduce congestion and keep traffic flowing in what is one of the busiest and biggest boroughs in London.
Money raised by parking goes straight back into improving services. Specific examples include a contribution to the major Kentish Town and Chalk Farm town centre improvements and new security devices at motorcycle bays to reduce thefts. Money is also spent on providing the freedom pass to pensioners, on home-to-school transport, on maintaining parking facilities and on highway improvement schemes.
As a council we are committed to offering a fair deal on parking. There is still work to be done, but over the past year and a half we have achieved a great deal that rarely receives acknowledgment, including:
A new mobile patrol unit to monitor suspended bays and release them back into use more quickly
Agreeing innovative solutions to suspended parking bay problems such as e-mail alerts to notify drivers about suspensions in particular areas
Giving permit holders seven days' grace before towing away their car if their permit has expired
Effectively ending all car clamping (disabled badge fraud and persistent offenders excepted)
Reducing towing by 60 per cent.
Trialling cash-free Chip and PIN meters to make life easier for drivers using pay and display bays
Piloting the introduction of parking permits for visitors south of Euston Road and extending permits for those visiting elderly or housebound residents across the borough
Publishing guides for drivers on how to avoid getting a ticket and how to understand the appeals system
If only Labour had a similar story to tell of any 18-month period during their 36 years in office!
Cllr Mike Greene
Executive Member, Environment, Camden Council
Mayor gets done!
 Clampdown on CAM 300C: mayor Somper falls foul of parking wardens in Hampstead on Monday |
IT is the picture that will make every motorist that has ever felt hard done by a parking ticket smile with glee: the Mayor of Camden’s car parked illegally in Hampstead – and getting the once over from two wardens.
The limo, put at the disposal of Conservative mayor councillor Dawn Somper, was spotted on double yellow line outside the Bombay Bicycle Club restaurant in Downshire Hill, Hampstead, on Monday afternoon.
Cllr Somper had been chauffeur driven to the Indian curry house to hob-nob with the trustees and performers of the annual arts and culture event, the Hampstead and Highgate festival (see preview on page 20-21).
But while she was inside enjoying Indian nibbles and a glass of wine, Camden’s wardens were photographing her car and preparing to slap a £60 fine under the windscreen.
The warden, who would not be named, said: “It’s not supposed to be on a double yellow, is it? I do not know whose car it is – if it’s parked illegally, it’s parked illegally.”
Despite the fact the car had a distinctive personalised number plate and the civic shield stuck to the roof, the warden dutifully began to fill out a ticket – before ringing up his bosses at the town hall to double check whether he should issue the fine.
Parking fines became a key political issue in the council elections of two years ago: the Conservatives made political capital out of what they saw as Camden’s unfair parking fine regime when they came into power with the Lib-Dems, and promised to ban clamping.
Cllr Somper was not perturbed by her brush with the boys in green: she let the wardens get on with it, and told the New Journal her car has a permit which allows her to park anywhere at any time, meaning any ticket issued would be waived.
A council spokesman said: “The mayor, as the first citizen of the borough, attends around 500 engagements each year. She has a permit which allows her to park on both double and single yellow lines without restrictions while on official duty,
“If the driver can’t find a space, they can park in restricted areas.”
Camden new Journal
Camden Parking Debts via 5 Bailiff Companies
At an executive committee meeting on 31st October Camden Council reccomended its bailiff enforcement contract be awarded to 5 as yet unamed companies.
The estimated annual contract value based on the debt collection income of these contracts is £1,400,000.00 for a term of five years commencing on 3rd December 2007
As a result of some poor practice within the enforcement industry, some of which as been highlighted in the media, the evaluation panel posed direct and difficult questions to achieve assurances on the points that were raised as areas of concern. Clarification was sought with regards to audit processes and controls, management involvement and changes that had been implemented as a result. The evaluation panel was not satisfied that all tenderers had addressed all issues satisfactorily.
Officers within the Council’s Parking Services Recovery Rate team identified areas of concern when designing the new specification including issues identified by debtors, Executive Members, local and national media, trade publications and Council Officers. Changes to the contract specification are wide ranging and include the following:
Camden contract award
The estimated annual contract value based on the debt collection income of these contracts is £1,400,000.00 for a term of five years commencing on 3rd December 2007
As a result of some poor practice within the enforcement industry, some of which as been highlighted in the media, the evaluation panel posed direct and difficult questions to achieve assurances on the points that were raised as areas of concern. Clarification was sought with regards to audit processes and controls, management involvement and changes that had been implemented as a result. The evaluation panel was not satisfied that all tenderers had addressed all issues satisfactorily.
Officers within the Council’s Parking Services Recovery Rate team identified areas of concern when designing the new specification including issues identified by debtors, Executive Members, local and national media, trade publications and Council Officers. Changes to the contract specification are wide ranging and include the following:
- External mail house must be used to send all first letters to debtors
- Bailiffs must be equipped with GPS technology for retrospective proof of visits undertaken
- Bailiffs must be equipped with personal digital assistants (PDA’s) or alternative approved handheld equipment to verify activity against the case
- The implementation of a solution to monitor and audit all correspondence left by bailiffs at a debtors residence
- Defined fee structure and cap of £250 + VAT Requirement to satisfy ‘Mystery Shopping’ exercises
- Greater responsiveness to deal with Persistent Evaders, but with more opportunity for debtors to settle their case prior to escalation of fees
Camden contract award
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