They are introducing a £30 charge to park outside the house. Do I risk sending the following email? Has anyone done similar or know of any successful challenges?

I have paid the £30 for the permit but am more concerned about the likely year on year increases. Originally you got two free permit and 6 packs of visitors permits, then just one free permit, then they charged for the visitors permits… they do have form for this sort of thing

I live within a parking permit zone near the General Hospital. The implementation of the parking permits has been a great success and allows residents to park near their houses rather than being overrun by the cars of the visitors and staff from the hospital.

Southampton Council has now introduced a £30 charge for each permit. Apparently this is because of the costs they have incurred in policing the parking. If this accurately reflected the cost of enforcing the permits it may be defensible, we will let the courts decide.
The slightly more serious issue is that they are simply not enforcing the parking permits. I work from home a lot so my car is parked outside of my house most days. When I changed my car I had to apply for a temporary permit until I received the V5 for the car. I received no reminder when the temporary permit expired and I forgot about it. This means the car was parked on the street in a permit zone without a valid permit from September until…

…the day the charges were introduced for permits.

That means that for 4 months the permits were unchecked. Assuming they had checked the permits the day before mine had expired and it was coincidence that it was spotted up on the day that the charges were introduced this means there are a maximum of three checks a year on cars in my road. I plan to appeal against the permit charges so require so basic information from the Parking Services team.

Please can I have a statement showing:

1. How many times on average the permits on any given street will be checked
2. The costs and revenue associated with these checks broken down by
i. Labour costs
ii. Administrative costs for ticket processing
iii. Administrative costs
iv. Revenue generated from tickets.

it’s worth asking.

Maybe dress it up as an FOI request though?

Hmm FoI could be a good route. Is there a preferred way of asking or do you just list the facts you want?

They’ll up your council tax so they can afford to take you to court.

THey did this up here round the uni….started off free , then 30 then up to 90 – same as in the city. Scumbags.

But if your gonna build a uni and very minimal parking at an out of city campus what do you expect.

Can you send it in green ink via email?

FOI all the way.

Where do visitors get to park?

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/

WCA

I thought you had a free helli pad and a para medics space out side your house already.* 😆

* no ladder jokes

FOI for costs of implementation, then if it’s unjustifiable, riddle their grate with:
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-2373271/Barnet-residents-win-landmark-court-battle-rip-council-parking-fees.html

In point 1 drop the word average – if this has been costed they must know how many times each road will be checked.

It’s about recouping costs / money making cos they can. My MIL lives in Cardiff and has (paid for) residents permits, completely unenforced most of the time but as occaisionally it is they can’t afford to be without the permit. Meanwhile the majority of non-permit users have little chance of being caught and those that pay struggle to park, worst of both worlds and the council don’t give a stuff.

Don’t you have a drive and several cars?

How did you get on the last time you raised the issue with them?

Letter from council requesting feedback – Suggestions please

I had a residents parking scheme at my old house. Was £30 a year for 8 years with no increase, and visitor permits stayed the same price too. Didn’t object to paying it TBH.

Risk It, Risk It.

Brakes – yes I do have a drive and more than one car. That is why the cars I am not using much are on the drive and the one I am using is parked on the road

GaryM – I got a nice letter back thanking me for my feedback saying they appreciate all the views and they will implement the charges from December 1st.

DezB – Visitors park about 3/4 of a mile away as I haven’t paid another £30 for a book of visitors permits

[edit]
Just checked the council FoI website about parking permits. It appears that of all the responses there was one that might be considered support for the charges

Q1: Of the responses to the consultation on the proposals to charge for residents parking permits how many were in favour of the proposals?

Response: Our Traffic Management colleagues in Highways who managed the consultation on behalf of Parking Services have advised that one response to the Public Notice stated that the Council had no option in the current financial circumstances.

I haven’t paid another £30 for a book of visitors permits

Surely there is money making potential there. How much are the hospital visitor parking charges? 😉

Hmm FoI could be a good route. Is there a preferred way of asking or do you just list the facts you want?

point of nerd – I dont think you have to dress it up as an FOI, any request for info from a public body should be treated as an FOI. There is no protocol to follow.

FoI it is

Thank you for contacting Southampton City Council.

Your enquiry will be passed to the relevant team/officer for relevant action.

If you have made a Freedom of Information request then you will receive a response to your request within twenty working days of the date your request was received.

If you have any queries, please contact the Information Compliance Officer at 023 8083 2676.

Personally think they should scrap all residents parking schemes.

Why should you have protected parking when someone else in your borough pays the same council tax but doesn’t get protected parking?

Would save the whining about how much it costs as well.

Alternatively just don’t buy one and park somewhere else.

Dangerous beans – take it you have never lived near a hospital or a uni.

dangerousbeans – I sort of agree. I have a friend who lives about a 20 minutes walk from the hospital but can never park near his house because of the hospital staff parking outside his house.

When we first moved into this house (about 2 minutes from the hospital) there was no chance of parking within 15 minutes of the house. In fact the road was frequently blocked by bad parking and several times I had cars parked across my drive so eiTher I couldn’t get the car out or I couldn’t park when I got back.

We got permits and the problems eased. He didn’t get permits and the problem remained.

My idea is that rather than punishing the victims of the parking (us) we solve the problem by providing decent remote parking and shuttle bus service for the hospital staff. There is some remote parking but it doesn’t seem to be popular. Not sure why.

Yes I have. They didn’t build it after I got there though so it was my choice. I suppose you could feel aggrieved if someone built a hospital near you after you had bought a house, but I still don’t see why other council residents should pay for protected spaces they can’t use.

WCA – lots of people park outside my house, it doesn’t really matter whether they work in a hospital or elsewhere or are visiting my neighbours, they are still parked there.

If someone has parked inconsiderately outside your house, use a trolley jack to lift the rear of the car and drag it round* so it’s at 90 degrees to the pavement. Then call the non emergency number for the police to report an obstruction in the highway.

Let us know if it works!

*may need a couple of mates for this

Ever been to paris. Bumpers are named after what they are used for,

More than once my banger pushed a vehicle out the way.

Go for it, council’s have got no money, under resourced, may not fight you.

If someone has parked inconsiderately outside your house, use a trolley jack to lift the rear of the car and drag it round* so it’s at 90 degrees to the pavement. Then call the non emergency number for the police to report an obstruction in the highway.

Trolley jack? You can bump a car around.* Old panda 4x4s were the best, you could pick them up using the bull-bars and wheel them around like wheelbarrows.

*Assuming you go to the gym.

take it you have never lived near a hospital or a uni

Or around the corner from a Premier League teams stadium 😀

I’ve seen 3 average guys pick up the back end of a Sierra and wheel it out of the way, and seen a Fiat 127 Turned 90 degrees within its space. It can be done. 🙂

dangerousbeans – I am not being precious about the parking space exactly outside my house, it is just nicer to be able to park within 20 minutes of the house. Also, with the hospital being a 24×7 establishment the problem doesn’t disappear after 5:30pm or at weekends, although it does lessen.

Just got another email. You have to hand it to them, they are on the ball.

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request received today requesting information about:
Patrols of, and tickets issued in, ……., by quarter of 2013 and projected into 2014.

Your request is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and will be answered within twenty working days of the date your request was received.

If you have any queries about this request do not hesitate to contact me. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communication.
Regards
Debbie

Debbie Hawke-Wareham
Senior Administration Assistant
Parking Services
Southampton City Council
PO Box 1098
Southampton SO14 7WE

WCA – why not park the less used cars on the road? Or are they not taxed?

If you want to sort it quickly,email the Millipede and tell him you live in a profligate Labour controlled council,who are charging for services they are not providing,and if he does not sort it,the Daily Mail ,and the Express will be informed. 😆

WCA – why not park the less used cars on the road? Or are they not taxed?

sc-xc – Remember the subject of this thread? Parking permits? Perhaps I should pay for lots of permits and leave the drive empty? Or perhaps not

😉