“The Council always looks to carry out any parking and traffic enforcement in a fair and balanced way”

Cabinet Member for Environment that includes parking enforcement-Councillor Barry Mugglestone, today writes in the Havering Daily in response to our recent article on parking tickets.

Councillor Barry Mugglestone, writes:

I’m writing in response to a recent article in The Havering Daily – Are Havering Motorists Losing Their Tempers And Money On Parking Tickets? – and wish to set the record straight.

The Council always looks to carry out any parking and traffic enforcement in a fair and balanced way. At the present time a very small percent of our PCNs are issued in error. Where this does occur residents can challenge the ticket and instructions how to do this are included on PCNs. Clearly, I would like no errors and we are working hard to minimise this.  Other grounds for cancellations are also available where customers are able to evidence valid reasons, for example: a vehicle breakdown, or having been involved in loading/unloading, etc.

The article referenced theatre-goers who were fined after attending a tribute concert at the Queen’s Theatre. To our knowledge there were only three dates for this show: 31 July, 29 September and 12 November. Respectively we issued one, two and six PCNs on those dates in the car park. Therefore, the claim that “dozens of theatre-goers attended the tribute concert” and “many of them returned to find a parking ticket waiting” is an unfair and exaggerated version of events.

We appreciate the stress caused by any PCN issued in error and the Council continues to work hard to reduce officer error and resolve issues quickly when this does occur. However, enforcement is required to ensure we all stick to the rules, pay for parking when the rules require and prevent inconsiderate and illegal parking, which is still, sadly, far too common an occurrence.

Stay up to date with all of our latest updates and content by following us on our social media accounts!

We have created community pages where we will share our up-to-date stories happening in the area. Add the area closest to where you live.