Car Parking Campaign - Revisited

It's been a while since our Car Parking campaign but I feel it's worth a revisit due to the continued amount of clients coming forward with car parking issues - primarily with 'Smart Parking'.

We wrote a letter to a Smart Parking company last year and unfortunately received an unsatisfactory response (they requested all the names of the clients who came to us for help, which we refused). They did not respond to the request of altering their machines so at least the digits are easy to read (at the moment some have small, gold lettering which many people have said is hard to read, particulary if the sun's out).

We of course appreciate there are rules that should be stuck to and those who don't face a clearly signposted penalty, However, when there is a zero tolerance attitude towards many people who simply face the issue of entering their registration clearly, surely it is in their interest to make the digits clear and easy to read on their parking machines? To date, we have very few clients who have successfully won a parking appeal. Usually, this is due to the black and white policy of break rules = penalty.

But when these rules are broken they may only be, for example, five minutes outside the alloted time due to being disabled or with health conditions. When you have such a condition, moving quickly round a busy shop, joining a long queue, waiting for someone else to pull out and going across the car park with your trolley and trying to leave within the alloted time isn't easy. And Smart Parking doesn't appear to be allowing for the vulnerable or anyone else - whether proof of payment has been sent or not.

So, I will be revisiting this issue with a view to raise pressure to install easy-to-read car parking machines and increase flexiblity on particulary vulnerable people. Please let me know if you have had a case of receiving a parking penalty (private land) when:

- You have had a genuine reason for being outside the alloted time e.g. someone was ill/you have a health condition which flared up

- You incorrectly entered your car registration due to the digits being hard to read

My email is campaigns@wyreforestcab.cabnet.org.uk

Thank you