Monday, August 22, 2011

Glasgow gets tough on parking ticket appeals as the city gets second place in the toughest area to get your ticket cancelled














Dear All

There maybe a zombie movie being filmed in the city but nothing puts the sh***ers up motorists as the sight of the parking wardens hovering about waiting to plant a ticket on their car.

And they do it with such relish.

If you are parking illegally in Glasgow expect the ‘boys in green’ dressed in tactical gear to swoop.

In you believe you are an innocent, then don’t expect much mercy as Parking bosses in Glasgow are among the strictest in the country.

They fight to the death when it comes to parking ticket appeals.

Glasgow City Council came out second toughest in screwing the motorists for parking illegally in the city as figures obtained under freedom of information laws show.

East Ayrshire has emerged top as the most hard line area of the country when it comes to parking enforcement.

20% of drivers who challenge their ticket get let off.

If you stay in Argyll and Bute, it is a different story, they are the most lenient, tearing up 83% of parking tickets appealed against by motorists last year.

The huge discrepancies in parking-appeal success rates have been condemned by motoring organisations.

They say something wrong in the way in how Councils continue to slap thousands of tickets on windscreens which shouldn’t be there.

And the charge of £60 for a parking ticket is worth a fight.

Argyll and Bute issued 1032 tickets last year, of which 169 were appealed against and only 29 fines were upheld.

Matthew Sinclair of the Taxpayers’ Alliance said the figures suggested some councils are giving out tickets when they shouldn’t be.

He said:

“It is absolutely stunning that in some parts of the country the success rate for parking appeals is so high, as it suggests that the authority is getting its fines wrong on a massive scale.”

A spokeswoman for Glasgow City Council, said:

“Everyone has the right to appeal to the council about their penalty charge notice.”

The AA’s Paul Watters said councils should cancel more fines, which are typically £60, or £30 if paid in two weeks.

He added:

“If people take the trouble to write and give an excuse, then let them off.”

I am not sure that because someone takes the time to fight off a letter that they should get off.

If they aren’t parking illegally they shouldn’t be ticketed, if they are they should know better, if you chance your arm and get caught, pay up.

However, this is an issue which should be monitored because the purpose of parking control is to ensure that the city’s transport runs smoothly, some see it as a ‘cash cow’.

I don’t quite go along with that idea.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Iknow the parking polices are crap
but there are some bams think they park anywhere but they should be a bit easyier on the car owner because they are a easy target and
easy money for the city

Anonymous said...

You're so awesome! I do not suppose I've truly read through a
single thing like that before. So wonderful to find somebody with genuine thoughts on this issue.
Really.. many thanks for starting this up. This website is one
thing that is needed on the web, someone with a
little originality!

My site; Keep moving forward

Anonymous said...

We need to hear of more car owners that have been issued with parking tickets incorrectly. Glasgow city council take the stand that their parking attendant's are always right and are unable to make a mistake. I received a parking ticket where I live. There is a restricted done yesterday in force during events at the nearby stadium to enable residents like myself to park. We had to apply for parking permits to shower I'd to park in these zones she in force. We have ours on permanent display in the car. It's been there for years. However it wasn't spotted by the parking attendant recently and I was issued with I fine. My initial appeal was rejected despite my provision of photographic evidence. GCC also had the same which did not show any details of my vehicle at all. In fact you can't even make out a vehicle in the photo. Yet Mr Hay still believes his investigation had proved that the ticket was issues correctly. I've done nothing wrong, played by their rules and now need to take this to the next speak stage. I feel utterly despondent at the way GCC have treated me. I won't pay for something I simply am not guilty of. GCCs stand appears to be guilty until proven innocent. What kind of system is that!