We’ve written before about the wheel clamping behind Rayleigh Station. We know quite a bit about what’s going on there – one person recently got stung for almost ?500 there.
But we know that another person has recently got her money back. She told us:
Hello .
.
I got my money back but only from the Credit card company via the Consumer credit agreement act 1974. I just got the original debit amount not my costs but that is better than nothing.
I had to issue a CCJ against LBS before they would help me.
Reason given for the refund was due to the decision of the court – whatever that means?. I sent them loads of copies of bank statements, receipts, emails, court papers and other information I had managed to collect along with my letter and that was the response the credit card company gave.
.
It took me 9 months!.
Also – and this is important – the information we have is that the clampers are NOT entitled to clamp vehicles where that car is in the photo – that’s a highway.
It’s interesting that you point out the area that is classed as highway. I have to ask, why has it not got yellow lines like the rest of the road? It’s pretty obvious that people will park here for free, rather than pay to use the carpark.
I also remember watching a program on ITV about parking enforcement. A chap on there stated that if yellow lines are not correctly maintained to ensure no parts of the lines are worn away, and if the end point of the yellow line does not have a perpendicular yellow cross bar, the line is not enforceable as it does not meet regulations. The yellow lines in the photo appear to be in a poor state of repair, with big gaps and no cross bars, which would suggest that you could park anywhere along this stretch of road. Perhaps someone with more knowledge of the regulations could confirm this?
On a related note, I see that Basildon, Billericay and Wickford have extended their free weekend parking to encourage shoppers into their towns. Parking is free from 6pm Friday to 8am Monday. Shopkeepers have noted a rise in customers.
It’s highway – but not public highway. For some reason that isn’t clear to us, when the area was developed, this little bit of road went into private ownership , but is still a public highway.
This was posted on the BBC web site on 01/12/09,
A doctor loses a court battle over parking tickets issued on his own land – when a judge rules he only owns the subsoil.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8388077.stm
Admin,
Could it be that this ‘highway’ is the property of the railway company? I say this as there is a good example of the railway owning a footpath outside of the railway boundary in the Southend Borough Council area. The footpath is known as the Cinder Path and connects Leigh Old Town with Chalkwell Station. In addition to the footpath, the railway boundary stretches some 20 metres south of the high water mark into the sea. I believe this situation still exists and that the local sailing clubs on this stretch of foreshore pay ground rent to the railway company as opposed to the Borough Council.
Interesting idea Greenbelt, but not the case here….
ST1 – going back to your comment at 1 about free parking- the Saturday before last I went up the High Street after 1 pm, and the car par parks were nearly full – not surprising as it was after the free parking had started and one car park was closed anyway.
Lasy Saturday I went up at 12 noon – still during the charging period – and didn’t notice much difference . Car parks were well used, Byfords, Barclays and Feathering Your Nest had plenty of customers, amd the fruit and veg shop wasn’t doing badly either.
Making parking completely free on Saturdays would cost the council a LOT of money , and I’m not sure how effective it would be compared with bringing back a 30 or 40 minute parking period, or making parking free after 6 pm weekdays. Also bear in mind how expensive it is to get to Rayleigh High Street by bus – £1.90 for example, from the Hullbridge Road/ Rawreth Lane junction.
However the Approach car park is a very different situation, and Chris and June Lunley have made a good case for cutting charges there.
Chris, I agree with the logic of your observations, but there is also the element that as people are often restricted to doing their shopping on a Saturday, it will always be busy with a baseline of shoppers who have no choice but to go out on a Saturday morning. I also understand your point about the loss of earnings from parking charges, although you hope these could be offset from gains made by attracting more business to the town.
Besides the observation of increased business in towns with the free weekend parking, I guess the other point I wanted to make in my original post is that these “competing” towns are within close driving distance for people who may potentially shop/eat in Rayleigh. Plus the town centre is also competing with the supermarkets with free parking, including our favourite Asda, and Sainsbury’s at the Weir.
As for the cost of buses, they’ll never get more people to use them if they’re more expensive than the cost of fuel and parking, particularly for couples or families that share car journeys.
Chris
Spare a thought for those of us who live further afield. I catch the bus from ASDA in Rawreth Lane and £1.90 is the single fare to Rayleigh High Street, the return fare is £2.90 which is the same price as a Southend Rover. I would imagine that the cost of a bus ticket is rather more from Battlesbridge.
What would be nice is a circular bus route where you pay a set fare irrespective of how far you travel. Would this be possible?
Christine- it’s certainly possible, and it’s been suggested to the bus companies that they should offer a circular route. But so far they don’t want to do it and we can’t force them.