Parking fines are back - but there's no warning

1:00pm Wednesday 16th January 2013 in News By Jane Reader

MONEY EATING: A parking meter in Westover Road, Bournemouth. MONEY EATING: A parking meter in Westover Road, Bournemouth.

ON-STREET parking fines have been re-introduced without warning in Bournemouth.

Enforcement at sites with parking meters re-started on Saturday despite having been suspended due to legal difficulties since September last year.

Bournemouth council made no announcement before issuing £50 fines to drivers without valid tickets.

One warden, who did not wish to be named, described the move as “sneaky.”

Bournemouth’s traffic wardens had not issued fines to drivers parked in meter controlled zones since September 7 after an independent adjudicator upheld an appeal against a fine.

The adjudicator said he could not find a traffic regulation order requiring motorists to display tickets in their vehicles.

The council did not tell motorists enforcement was suspended and parking meters remained in use, collecting a huge £261,000 between September and December.

The suspension was reported in the Daily Echo and the council admitted enforcement was impossible at the time.

Throughout the suspension period, the council’s Service Director for Planning and Transport, Mike Holmes, urged drivers to continue to buy tickets warning that fines could be re-introduced at any time.

Now they have resumed enforcement without telling the public they were planning to do so.

Gary Powell, Parking and Traffic manager for Bournemouth council, said: “The updated traffic regulation order for on-street parking came into force on Friday January 11 with enforcement recommencing the following day.”

See all our stories on parking here

 

Comments(26)

skydriver says...
1:12pm Wed 16 Jan 13

Low life councillors of bournemouth, they will now be making up a lot of cash from fines.

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jeebuscripes says...
1:21pm Wed 16 Jan 13

No announcement or warning from these jokers.

They treat the public with contempt.

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Rich1978 says...
1:25pm Wed 16 Jan 13

Haha. Sounds like you were warned. Low life councillors? Do you know them personally? Would you rather have more money on your council tax then?

I say pay for your parking like everyone else. All that money you thought you were saving. Lol.

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scrumpyjack says...
1:46pm Wed 16 Jan 13

There's always "one". Can anyone else spot who it is on here?

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Capricorn 1 says...
1:48pm Wed 16 Jan 13

I have nothing to do with the Council, but why should they announce that fines are being re-introduced?

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The Renegade Master says...
2:06pm Wed 16 Jan 13

The Council view us as cash cows, so this latest incident of their sly and underhand behaviour comes as no surprise to me.
What everyone needs to remember is that the Council, Police and Dorset Road Unsafe are conspiring to fleece as much cash out of us as possible. A principle I find disgusting when it's US who pay THEM their wages.

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rayc says...
2:10pm Wed 16 Jan 13

Beware of councils who are trying to get the same powers to enforce moving traffic violations as London Councils currently do.
If Bournemouth Council gets these powers then CCTV enforcement of yellow box junctions, specially designed so that drivers are unable to avoid being trapped in them, will make the income from parking insignificant. The London Borough of Chelsea and Hammersmith made £2.7m in fines last year from just one of them.

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jobsworthwatch says...
2:18pm Wed 16 Jan 13

Time to boycott the town centre!

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jeebuscripes says...
2:25pm Wed 16 Jan 13

This news is released at the same time that they've said there were disappointing Christmas sales.

Another reason to make people resent paying for parking.

Bonkers.

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Professor Zaroff says...
2:34pm Wed 16 Jan 13

Whatever your opinion of this fiasco, whenever this has been reported in the Echo the council did state that fines could be reinstated at any time (from what I remember it was clear that this would be without notice).

So like it or not, warning was given.

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Phixer says...
2:39pm Wed 16 Jan 13

Professor Zaroff wrote:
Whatever your opinion of this fiasco, whenever this has been reported in the Echo the council did state that fines could be reinstated at any time (from what I remember it was clear that this would be without notice).

So like it or not, warning was given.
Yes but there are those people on here who cannot read and/or think that it doesn't apply to them - or just like complaining.

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skydriver says...
2:41pm Wed 16 Jan 13

Clearly Rich is not a driver, only thinks of himself!

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skydriver says...
2:43pm Wed 16 Jan 13

jobsworthwatch wrote:
Time to boycott the town centre!
Yes right on, then the would be no need for useless councillors

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delta3 says...
2:55pm Wed 16 Jan 13

With the BBC pulling stunts like this I will make sure I go no further into town than Castlepoint for my shopping needs. In the last 10 years I have taken advantage of their no pay & display policy which allows FREE parking and a dedicated team who are really pro-customer and keen to help/advise. The town centre by comparison has what.....? Oh yeah traffic wardens and various other council staff only to eager to fine visitors. Shame on you BBC!

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bosco1 says...
3:18pm Wed 16 Jan 13

So here we have it, Shops closing down wholesale.Bournemout
h suffers a terrible shooping christmas period.!!! Then its back to hitting the motorists. Hence now you will know Bournemouth Borough Council why not only residents avoid the town but also the Visitors who bring in money to our town steer clear.!! whens the next shop closing down.?

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muscliffman says...
3:19pm Wed 16 Jan 13

jobsworthwatch wrote:
Time to boycott the town centre!
Everyone (nearly) already has, but the greedy Town Hall cash grabbers still wonder why the Town Centre is dying.

Free parking is the ONLY way the centre of Bournemouth can even begin to compete with the likes of Castlepoint - yet still they don't get it!

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Murray Rothbard says...
3:51pm Wed 16 Jan 13

Bournemouth's rogue council at it again I see!

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jobsworthwatch says...
4:22pm Wed 16 Jan 13

muscliffman wrote:
jobsworthwatch wrote:
Time to boycott the town centre!
Everyone (nearly) already has, but the greedy Town Hall cash grabbers still wonder why the Town Centre is dying.

Free parking is the ONLY way the centre of Bournemouth can even begin to compete with the likes of Castlepoint - yet still they don't get it!
At least restore 1 hour free parking on the road otherwise the only people going into town will be councilors and jobsworths!

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Hessenford says...
4:48pm Wed 16 Jan 13

jobsworthwatch wrote:
Time to boycott the town centre!
I think that's already happening, this will just make matters worse.

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muscliffman says...
4:49pm Wed 16 Jan 13

jobsworthwatch wrote:
muscliffman wrote:
jobsworthwatch wrote:
Time to boycott the town centre!
Everyone (nearly) already has, but the greedy Town Hall cash grabbers still wonder why the Town Centre is dying.

Free parking is the ONLY way the centre of Bournemouth can even begin to compete with the likes of Castlepoint - yet still they don't get it!
At least restore 1 hour free parking on the road otherwise the only people going into town will be councilors and jobsworths!
Good suggestion, except they will bring in a team of jobsworth wardens to police the scheme and naturally existing Town Hall fat-cats will be promoted on extra money to manage it.

You know you cannot possibly win!

Meanwhile the centre of our town dies.

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BmthNewshound says...
6:25pm Wed 16 Jan 13

Another nail in the Bournemouth town centre coffin.
.
The council has the single aim to screw as much money as they can out of people visiting the town centre and don't care what effect parking charges have on retailers, restaurants and other services.

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bournenbred says...
6:57pm Wed 16 Jan 13

HORSE MEAT !

We are all being CONNED !!

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wonderway says...
7:15pm Wed 16 Jan 13

Well what you expect from Mike Holmes (transport and planning) he needs £600,000 to train the staff at town hall because they are not capable of doing the job there paid for.He has to fleece someone so he hits easiest target the motorist instead employing staff of right caliber or resign as he should do

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Rich1978 says...
7:47pm Wed 16 Jan 13

skydriver wrote:
Clearly Rich is not a driver, only thinks of himself!
Oh I'm a driver alright and have parked in the town centre and paid for my parking. I just think that there are better things in life to get on high horses about.

To be honest I'm not sure what the actual story is. The council said they would reintroduce fees, they did. Those that were chancing it got caught and have to pay the price. They would have known the risk as otherwise they wouldn't know you could get away without paying.

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jeebuscripes says...
12:14pm Thu 17 Jan 13

Turn the IMAX into a horse abattoir.

Then open a gourmet horse burger shop in the HMV store. With the current publicity the place would be rammed.

We could let the animal rights protesters who would arrive shelter in a boarded up Blockbusters.

They would get their coffee from Starbucks, and they would in turn be protested by other protesters who could shelter in....oh forget it.

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FNS-man says...
6:39pm Thu 17 Jan 13

The whole time it was necessary to buy a ticket, but not necessary to display it. So those not buying a ticket were in the wrong anyway.

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