Private Parking Tickets

The following information was kindly supplied to the NDRA by Rosemary Emery (Caseworker/Administrator for Keith Davies AM (Llanelli)) at the NDRA General Meeting on 29th Feb 2016. It comes from the thisismoney.co.uk website.

 

By using a space at a private car park, you have entered into a civil contract – police won’t take you to court for not paying.

Argue your case and stand your ground if you get a ticket – fewer than 5 per cent of cases are taken to County Court. If they are, most are found in the motorist’s favour.

Your Rights – A Quick Guide

  • If you are parked on private land and get a parking charge notice the first thing to do is contact the company that issued it, explaining why it should be thrown out.
  • If you have been caught fair and square then you may want to consider paying, but if you believe that the car park was poorly signed, poorly marked, it was in any way unclear that you were entering into a contract, or that the fine is disproportionate, then you should complain and ask for the fine to be rescinded.
  • As we mention above, you could send a letter and a cheque for what you would judge to be a fair amount for parking for that period of time – plus a little extra. Say that you believe this is a fair offer and compensates the business for its loss of parking amenity while you were there.
  • If the firm rejects your appeal you then have 28 days to apply to the independent Parking on Private Land Appeals scheme, which is backed by the British Parking Association.
  • Alternatively, you could decide not to pay and let the company pursue through the court if it so chooses.
  • If the firm is not a member of the BPA it should not be able to obtain your registered details from the DVLA. Gather evidence – such as photos of obscure signage – and then simply sit tight waiting to see if it follows up on the demand. Despite the tough talk, typically with a threat to take you to court, this action costs a firm money and it will be hard to find you. Fewer than one in 20 cases goes to court.
  • If the car parking company is a member of the BPA it is signed up to the independent body Parking on Private Land Appeals. Parking firms must pay £27 for every appeal made through this service but it costs you nothing, apart from time preparing for the case. Campaigners such as the National Motorists Action Group, AppealNow and Parking Prankster can offer advice to help you win.
  • If Parking on Private Land Appeals does not uphold your complaint its decision is not binding. You can pay up and take the charge on the chin if the parking infringement was your fault, or wait to see if the firm takes you to court.

Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/experts/article-2713421/I-got-80-parking-ticket-staying-longer-two-hours-shopping-centre-car-park-I-pay-it.html

General Meeting Monday February 29th 2016

North Dock Residents Association

General Meeting Monday February 29th 2016 at 6.30pm

At the Discovery Centre North Dock Llanelli

Minutes

Present
Amanda Kruger chairman, Alison Evans treasurer. Committee members: Kim Broom, Wyn Edwards, Alan and Sally Purnell, Phil Rees, Ian Thomson.

Ian Chappell, Steve Coombs, Joy Giles, Bethan and Katrin Poole, Helen Proctor, Alison Sainsbury, Jeremy Richards, Geoff Saunders, Paul Shapley, Caroline Stokes, Barbara Toft, Bernard Dezelu, Derek Smith, Robin Walter, Andrew Livings, Kaylee Marson, Jenna Davies, Lynne Davies.

In attendance
County Councillors; Louvain Roberts and Winston Lemon, Welsh Assembly Member Keith Davies, researcher Rosemary Emery.

  1. Introduction of new committee members
    The new chairman Amanda Kruger and other committee members introduced themselves to the meeting.
  2. Apologies
    Martin and Terri Darzins, Ronnie and Janice Davies, Joy Edwards, Ken Francis, Paula and Steve Halsall, Chris Hutchings secretary, Mary and David Matthews, Tony and Sue Moore, Yvette and Mike Morrison, Greg and Sara Mullins, Alan Newman, Paul and Doreen Thompson, Brian and Brenda Wareham, Martin Woodrow. PCSO Josh Jones.
  3. Introduction of guests.
    The County Councillors Louvain Roberts and Winston Lemon and the Welsh Assembly members Keith Davies together with his researcher Rosemary Emery were introduced to the meeting.
  4. Minutes of the last General meeting held on Thursday September 17th 2015
    The minutes of the last General Meeting were approved.
  5. Matters arising

NHBC Claim: Alan listed the main issues with the buildings at North Dock. The NHBC claim had been supported by DTZ. It was understood that there would be a cost of £2-3 million for repairs etc. Trinity Estates had appointed solicitors Hugh James of Cardiff to take the claim forward. However, NHBC seem reluctant to move on the claim and the next step would be for Trinity to instruct the solicitors to take the NHBC to court. It appears at the moment that nothing is happening. Each leaseholder is advised to contact the NHBC using their properties reference number to get an update and raise the profile of our case with the NHBC. One owner present had done this and was told that the claim was inactive. Amanda informed the meeting of the importance of the NDRA being recognised by Trinity so that we can progress the claim and deal effectively with Trinity so that they maintain the site in line with the high management fee we pay. There were still issues with another group trying to set up a separate residents association, Trinity will only recognise us if we can show that we represent 60% of leaseholders. We are working hard to achieve this.

 

Parking: Amanda referred to the letter from Trinity sent on Feb 9th advising residents that all vehicles parked at North Dock must display an original valid permit. If a ticket is issued, Trinity will not get involved with an appeal, residents must contact UKPC directly.
Sally described some of the parking issues that had been brought to the committee’s attention.
a. Doctors and nurses displaying an official doctor/nurse on call badges had received tickets. Ana South Trinity Estates coordinator for North Dock has now spoken to UKPC to stop this happening. If, in the future, a ticket is issued to a nurse or doctor she should be contacted.
b. Contractors and estate agents are receiving tickets. Ana said that there is nothing official to state that contractors or agents have a grace period but common sense should prevail. If a ticket is issued where it is clear that efforts were made to demonstrate it was a contractors or agent, Trinity would look to deal with that with UKPC.
c. Before the parking scheme was introduced the main problem was that residents parked in the wrong spaces, the permits have done nothing to alleviate this. A residential parking permit enables a resident to park in any residential space regardless of whom it belongs to.
The meeting unanimously agreed that the parking scheme was not satisfactory, living at North Dock had become much more difficult and unpleasant since its introduction, residents were parking on lawns and the wardens were over-zealous.
Kim suggested inviting a representative of UKPC to attend the next meeting. Trinity should ask UKPC to give residents 5 minutes grace between parking and displaying a permit.
Keith Davies AM advised the meeting of ways to complain about the parking company if necessary especially by contacting the BPA. Rosemary Emery indicated that the parking signs are illegal as they are only in English. She provided a paper related to parking. Parking tickets should also be in both English and Welsh the paperwork should indicate the name and Company number of UKPC.
Amanda will ask Trinity to confirm the number of the parking space for each apartment and to display this list on the notice board in each stairwell.

  1. Questions for the AM and County Councillors
  2. Refuse Collection: The council are reviewing the frequency of collections at North Dock. Weekly collections will definitely continue until October and the council will undertake an inspection before then. The council currently have an issue with plastic recycling.
    b. There were further questions about parking and the legality of the double yellow lines on site and around North Dock as it is private land.
    c. Who is responsible for litter collection on the beach and in the sand dunes? We were advised to contact the council and look on the council website. See the Keep Wales Tidy Scheme and if the Scouts will get involved.
    d. Speed bumps can cause problems for residents in wheelchairs and on mobility scooters. The committee will to contact the council regarding the speed bumps concerning the standards of height and width from a health and safety point of view.
    Residents are invited to email the council with any concerns.
  3. Website
    Ian described the construction of the NDRA website. It will be quite simple to start with and will grow to be more informative and helpful to residents. Wyn agreed to administer a ‘closed group’ on Facebook.

 

  1. AOB
    There were further questions criticising the parking scheme.
    There were concerns about the site notice board and who has access to it.
    There was a request for the job specification of the caretaker following complaints from several residents about his intimidatory conduct. There was the feeling that the caretaker is not being properly supervised by Trinity in respect of his interaction with people on site.
    Wyn raised the issue of fire safety and that Trinity are not following guidelines. The committee will contact Trinity.
    The common thread is that Trinity are not responding to residents’ concerns.
  2. Date of next meeting
    The next general meeting will be held on Friday May 6th at 6.30pm in the Discovery Centre.

Amanda thanked all who attended, especially the County Councillors and the Assembly Member. She urged all owners to give the NDRA their contact details (so as to encourage membership) and asked all tenants to contact their landlords in this respect.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.00pm

 


Notice of General Meeting – 29th February 2016

Dear All

I would like to invite you to a General Meeting of the North Dock Residents’ Association at the Discovery Centre on Monday February 29 at 6.30, all leaseholders and tenants are welcome.

Please find attached a copy of the agenda of the matters to be discussed. If you have anything particular to discuss then this can be dealt with in the Any Other Business (AOB) part of the meeting.

Our AM, Keith Davies and our two County Councillors Winston Lemon and Louvain Roberts have been invited to attend the meeting to answer any question that you may have.

We look forward to seeing you on the 29 February, and would be grateful for your continued support.

Kind regards

Amanda Kruger
Chair – NDRA

Minutes of AGM and Notice of Next General Meeting

Dear All

I’d like to thank all of you who attended the NDRA Annual General Meeting on the 15th January. The meeting was well supported and productive.  The minutes are available here: AGM January 15 2016 Minutes.

The next general meeting will be held at 6.30 pm on the 29th February (hopefully an easy date to remember!) at the Discovery Centre, North Dock. We will send out the agenda closer to the date.

If you’re not already a member of the NDRA, you can now join online by clicking here  (please note that the online form currently sits on our business website but will be moved to the new NDRA website when this is finalised).

Kind regards

Wyn Edwards

North Dock Residents’ Association

Update from Trinity Estates

NHBC Claim

This claim has been initiated due to significant build defects, which we believe were inherent in the original build. At a meeting in 2014, the options were discussed as to these repairs, and it was explained that the cost of the repairs would run into hundreds of thousands of pounds. The claim was initially rejected by the NHBC, though their grounds for rejection are not entirely clear. Trinity, with significant input from DTZ and Charles Fry are contesting this. Everybody appreciates that the flats look shabby but they need more than a lick of paint to brighten them up as has been stated in previous NDRA meetings. The options here are very simple. Either wait and see what the outcome of the claim is or do the works now and charge the full costs to the flat owners. Trinty are presently holding off non-essential repairs to items included in the claim in order to ensure that the claim is not invalidated and are therefore fulfilling their duty of care to everyone involved. DTZ are currently collating a variety of independent reports, which will form the basis of a response to the NHBC. The outcome, clearly, is currently not yet known. However, if a settlement is not reached with the NHBC, the only option will be to raise additional charges to owners to carry out these repairs. I have seen correspondence suggesting that the costs of these repairs should, in fact be met by the freeholder. I would refer you to the terms of your lease/TP1 for clarity on this. I would point out that costs for all maintenance and repair works are to be met by the sub-lessees. I am at a loss to understand why any owner would believe we are not pursuing the correct course of action. The potential cost of these repairs far exceeds the maintenance budget, as was confirmed in our meetings previously. I would also point out that we are obliged to give details of the NHBC claim on request from the solicitors of potential new owners, and that this information may not be withheld. If anyone wishes to receive further information on the claim, I would ask that they come to me direct for clarity, rather than issuing indiscriminate emails, which set us back considerably.

Parking Arrangements

Permits have now been issued, and I believe all owners have received them. Any tenants not in receipt should contact their landlords. The purpose of the parking restrictions is to reduce the number of vehicles on site and to ensure that everyone who has an allocated space is able to use it. The properties come with a designated space, and over time this has been ignored. Holiday lets and normal sub-lets frequently use additional or incorrect spaces, and we have seen instances where letting agents have informed incoming tenants that there are no restrictions, either on the number of spaces or the location of them. The restrictions should alleviate this issue, and ensure that everyone has access to those spaces to which they are entitled for the benefit of everyone. I recognise that it may be inconvenient, especially for holiday lets to have this restrictions but the transfer agreements are clear, and it is our duty to enforce them. The rules issued are clear, and we have provided options for assistance in the event of non-receipt etc. The parking company are also aware of the teething issues inherent in such a large site, and are being flexible in the early stages.

I have received numerous calls from tenants on this issue, and would ask them to refer to their landlord for clarity, as we have no relationship with anyone other than owners.

I can confirm that the speed bumps and other restrictions are within legal guidelines, and would ask that any owner who has substantive queries on this issue to please come to us direct. Again, these restrictions were put in place to increase safety on site, as we received numerous complaints about near-misses and irresponsible driving, exacerbated by poor parking in certain areas of the estate. I believe that this action is correct and responsible on such a large, unmarked estate.

NDRA

As you will be aware, there are significant issues with the NDRA, which are yet to be fully resolved. Trinity’s position is that the NDRA must meet certain requirements in order to be recognised by us, and I believe that certain of these conditions may not be met at present. First amongst these is the issue of membership, which must be a significant proportion of all owners on site. The troubles within the committee are preventing any clarity on these issues, and must be resolved if the committee is to remain recognised by Trinity Estates.

For clarity, I would point out that the NDRA has limited powers and responsibilities, and is primarily a tool for communication with the managing agent. I look forward to agreeing with the existing members and other interested parties a firm date for an AGM, at which time the make-up and constitution of the NDRA can be agreed, and we can continue working with them in the best interest of residents. Please be advised that the two issues listed above are not affected by the current issues within the NDRA. These issues are management functions of Trinity Estates, and while it would be beneficial to have input from the NDRA, their current situation does not change our contractual obligations to you as owners, or to the freeholder. The existence or otherwise of the NDRA does not affect our approach to the above issues.

Simon Bellamy | Regional Manager