Original Email:
Dear Department,
There is a serious ongoing issue with regards to the enforcement and visibility of the CPZ on Wynchgate N14.
Specifically- residents and visitors have received a number of tickets as they are unable to see well enough the CPZ enforcement.
Coming from Reighly Way you do not see any CPZ enforcement sign, compared to if you are coming from the Bourne Hill.
Those coming from Winchmore Hill Road, Park View ETC. Won’t see these CPZ signs and will get tickets.
Residents are frustrated, visitors are getting tickets. We need a solution. I am free also for a site visit to express the issue.
Kind Regards,
Councillor Stephanos Ioannou
Southgate Ward, London Borough of Enfield.
Response:
Dear Cllr Ioannou
Thank you for your enquiry.
You will recall that work was completed in January 2019 to rationalise the previous array of different restrictions within the one hour Southgate zone covering Wynchgate etc. This arose after a number of penalty charge notices (PCNs) issued under the previous arrangement of signs, had been rescinded at an independent tribunal because the varying hours across the single yellow lines did not accord with the key message presented by the zone entry signs. The effect of the work was to make all sections of single yellow line within the zone entry points accord with the controlled hours of the zone as presented at the entry points, thus aiding clarity and aligning the system of signs with that which drivers would normally expect within a CPZ.
Despite predictions from a number of households that the changes would lead to obstructive parking and other dangers, we have received minimal feedback on the changes in the year that has followed and a number of site visits conducted by officers for the purpose of monitoring have revealed no problems. To my best knowledge, the current system of signs is both technically correct as per Department for Transport regulations and represents adequate information – and more coherent information than applied previously – to the driving public.
Any driver who receives a PCN is given advice on how it may be challenged. An independent tribunal will find against the Council should they find the signage incorrect, certain signs missing or obscured or if the specialist comes to the judgement that, in a more general sense, the signs did not give clear enough information.
Should drivers who receive PCNs feel they have been issued incorrectly, they should submit a challenge via this process. My colleagues in the parking enforcement team will then make me aware if the process indicates that the signing needs improvement.
Regards
