Could pay, won't pay

[Brains]

Surely there are better kitchens for £30,000 than what they sell.

There are, B&Q came out at a very similar figure to Home Base.
The project was not only for a new kitchen and a new bathroom, but also floors, walls and ceilings, rewiring, re plumbing, painting and decorating, the entire thing ended up taking three months

 

[nickyboy]

Given that it's got a rear number plate, you might face the same problem.


Some railway station car parks come under railway bye laws, which gives tickets issued on the land the backing of statute, making the ticket the same as one from a local authority.

It's just a private car park that happens to be handily close to the railway station.

 

[MontyVeda]

Or the council could offer a good park and ride service and keep cars out of the town centre as much as possible?

they're currently building a park and ride... whether they put in sensible pricing to make it work for the consumer or not is another matter.

I don't buy the argument that for a place to thrive, motorists must be able to do what they like.

no one's making that claim.

It's not just shoppers from other towns though... it also those who drive to work here. They avoid the council car parks and clog up the residential streets, then money is spent (wasted) implementing resident's parking which seems to encourage the 'drive to work' lot to park for free on residential streets a little further out of town, which means more money spent on resident's parking schemes. I reckon there's more to offering free parking than meets the council's eye.

 

[midlife]

good point. I suspect that's why our hospital car park started charging. The council owned car parks are quite expensive and i reckon the cost of parking keeps a lot of migratory shoppers out of town. The few streets around where i live used to be the train station car park for railway commuters until they put in a resident's parking scheme. Apparently the council makes millions each year from it's car parks... but if they made their car parks free, maybe more people would come and shop, maybe more shops would open than shut down, maybe Lancaster would become the market town it used to be and maybe the hospital could offer free parking to its staff and visitors again.

Just out of curiosity Mr MontyVeda, do you know Lancaster well?

As we were talking about parking, is there anywhere to park near CityBlock in town, we need to drop the eldest off there as he goes back to uni. Cheers

Shaun

 

[screenman]

There are, B&Q came out at a very similar figure to Home Base.
The project was not only for a new kitchen and a new bathroom, but also floors, walls and ceilings, rewiring, re plumbing, painting and decorating, the entire thing ended up taking three months

You should try shopping where the trade shop, which is not B&Q.

 

[Pale Rider]

It's just a private car park that happens to be handily close to the railway station.

It would be worth a close look at any sign boards and/or the ticket you buy to park.

But if they don't help, or there are none, and there's no warden, I'm not sure how you would find out who is running it.

Some car parks that look 'private' are not, partly because some local authorities sub contract the enforcement to a private parking company.

In that instance, the private parking company staff are issuing tickets backed by statute.

My 'ticket' was generated automatically when my reg number was captured on camera as I left the car park.

 

[MontyVeda]

Just out of curiosity Mr MontyVeda, do you know Lancaster well?

As we were talking about parking, is there anywhere to park near CityBlock in town, we need to drop the eldest off there as he goes back to uni. Cheers

Shaun

There's several dotted around the oneway system (King street and Thurham street will be nearest). They're council car parks so will probably cost about fifty million quid, that is for the full day** though There's also on-street/kerbside pay & display more or less right outside (on Upper Penny street and possibly Marton St too) and if you're literally just dropping off... outside KFC which is spitting distance from CityBlock.

**night time charges also apply.

 

[midlife]

@MontyVeda Brilliant, much appreciated

Shaun

 

[EltonFrog]

I think it has some thing to do with Tort.

A tort, in common law jurisdictions, is a civil wrong that unfairly causes someone else to suffer loss or harm resulting in legal liability.

In the example of free car parks that offer limited free parking and then a penalty if you overstay, the land owners would have to prove a loss or harm. As I understand it, these penaltys don't go to civil courts because a complainant can't prove a reasonable loss.

Or something like that. I think. I'm not sure. In fact I haven't got a clue.

 

[Simpleton]

Given that it's got a rear number plate, you might face the same problem.


Some railway station car parks come under railway bye laws, which gives tickets issued on the land the backing of statute, making the ticket the same as one from a local authority.

What you do with a mbike is take the plate off the bike. VED is showing so the bike won't get towed. But no number plate means no ticket lol. Very popular tactic in London.

 

[ClichéGuevara]

What would happen in the McDonald's scenario if you moved your car to another bay, maybe even going out and back in again? Does it reset the clock?

Also, what if you sat in your car in the car park, but close enough to get the wifi? Is there a difference between 'parking' and 'waiting'?

 

[midlife]

I think it has some thing to do with Tort.

A tort, in common law jurisdictions, is a civil wrong that unfairly causes someone else to suffer loss or harm resulting in legal liability.

In the example of free car parks that offer limited free parking and then a penalty if you overstay, the land owners would have to prove a loss or harm. As I understand it, these penaltys don't go to civil courts because a complainant can't prove a reasonable loss.

Or something like that. I think. I'm not sure. In fact I haven't got a clue.

That sort of sums it up, if there are the correct signage and legal land use then they can claim for loss....say a fiver for loss of use and a tenner for admin then the claim for £15 might succeed, unfortunately trying to claim £100 for same is bound to fail.

Shaun

 

[snorri]

.. but if they made their car parks free, maybe more people would come and shop, maybe more shops would open than shut down, maybe Lancaster would become the market town it used to be .

but "nobody" would go to Lancaster because the congestion in the town centre would become legendary with drivers trying to gain access to the free parking and the centre would be one big traffic jam in the middle of a cloud of toxic pollution.

 

[i hate hills]

A few weeks ago I received a private company parking ticket.

For stopping an extra 12 minutes in a McDonalds/service station car park the demand was for £100.

I've had, I think, three of these over the years and have yet to pay any of them.

Ignoring all the threatening letters has worked in the past, although this time I decided to try a different tactic.

This is partly because the Protection of Freedom Act made the registered keeper - which the company gets from the DVLA - equally as responsible as the driver.

Bad news you may think, but it isn't really.

The parking company still has significant hurdles to cross.

This is a civil matter, and would be dealt with by a civil court.

Civil courts do not fine or punish, they only award damages.

Parking, in this instance, is free for two hours.

On any reasonable view, an extra few minutes should be no more than a few pounds, say £10 an hour pro rata.

Had they asked me for a reasonable amount for the time parked, I would probably have paid it.

Asking £100 is clearly an attempt to enforce a fine.

Legal costs are not awarded in a small claim at the county court - which this would be - so it's never going to be worth the company taking it to court.

Their costs would exceed any possible award - even if it was close to the sum demanded.

They also face other legal hurdles which I won't bother with now to keep the post short.

Rather than ignore the ticket, I sent an appeal email, fully expecting it to be either ignored or rejected.

I must have hit the right button somewhere because they replied saying the ticket was cancelled.

Best result for me.

Even though I fully expect I would get a decent result in court, I also know nothing in courts is ever guaranteed.

What are your views/experiences of private parking tickets?

Brilliant post ...very interesting ...thanks.

 

[Glow worm]

but "nobody" would go to Lancaster because the congestion in the town centre would become legendary with drivers trying to gain access to the free parking and the centre would be one big traffic jam in the middle of a cloud of toxic pollution.

Quite. It's depressing the amount of fuss motorists make about even the smallest stretches of town centre streets becoming pedestrianised - or in other words, civilised. Streets in which you can dawdle at your liesure, chat, and just do the kind of stuff communities should be able to do naturally, without a bunch of harrisholes in metal boxes barging us all out of the bloody way, corralled onto narrow, metal fenced (for our safety of course) pavements.