Writing Portfolio

21.10.12

Nick v Barnet Council



News of an East Finchley resident’s parking permit ordeal in last month’s Archer brought to mind my own dealings with Barnet Council over my parking permit earlier this year.

I had renewed my permit in good time – a marked increase in the charge for living in a CPZ area, thank you Barnet Council – but I did not receive it in the post before the old one expired. As directed by Barnet Parking Services, I printed out a copy of the permit from an email attachment and placed it on the dashboard of my car. This copy was clearly displayed, although I was still calling the Council over a week later asking when I was going to receive the real permit.

One Saturday morning, I found a penalty charge notice stuck on my car, informing me that I had infringed parking regulations by not displaying a valid permit (despite the fact that a print-out of said permit was clearly visible). I removed this, only to find that when I returned to my car an hour later another penalty had been issued!

I emailed Barnet Parking Services to protest against both charges, attaching a photograph I had taken of the print-out permit showing it clearly displayed on the dashboard. In the event, the charges were overturned.

My conclusion from this experience is that it always helps to have photographic evidence!

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