Saturday 17 November 2007

No Blog for a week

I am at Liverpool's University Hospital later today 07:30 for a new Knee, if I can get to my PC when I come out I will continue to lobby the Council regarding the unlawful Bays. Incidentally Malcolm Cox's remarks earlier this week in the Bolton News throws up another criminal charge against the Council, that of Conspiracy, definition of Conspiracy "A secret plan or agreement between two or more people to commit an illegal or subversive act"
So we now have. Deception, Fraud and Conspiracy.

Friday 16 November 2007

Letter sent to CEO Bolton Council and Local Councillors

Dear Mr Harriss and Councillors,
In Wednesday's Bolton News the council are reported as stating that only two bays within the Borough were unlawful. As everyone involved in parking issues realises this is incorrect to a degree that cannot be mistaken for a genuine mistake, far from there being only two illegal bays I would put it to you that we will be hard pressed to find two bays that are compliant with the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002. (TSRGD) I have investigated many bays at various locations throughout the Borough and ALL are unlawful and this has been verified by the DfT which unconditionally states the Bays fashioned by the Highways Department and subsequently supported on several occasions by Parking Services, Legal Services and various councillors are illegal Hybrids of a 1032 bay and a 1028.4 bay.
Councillor Peel stated that the council has acted in good faith and the council were updating the Traffic Orders, this statement verifies the bays were unlawful by stating the Traffic Orders were invalid, and Malcolm Cox has now admitted an abuse of office by stating that the Council have known since 2002 that the bays were wrong, despite this knowledge Bolton Council continued to issue unlawful Penalty Charge Notices on Unlawful bays across the Borough, and as a consequence unjustly enriched the council finance department coffers with illegally derived income.
The statement in The Bolton News Wednesday 14th November by Mr Cox is untrue, there were no changes to the design of the bays, just a recommendation that some bays can be narrowed to 1800mm to minimise any obstruction, (See below) there were changes to sign plates but not to bays see information below from Department for Transport, a full script of the changes from 1994 TSRGD to the 2002 TSRGD is attached.

The problem goes back to Sept 2000 when the Council took over Decriminalised Parking Enforcement from the Police, yet after 7 Years the Council have done nothing to change the bays to make them Lawful, the Council were more concerned with deceiving the public by not informing them that the bays did not comply with Statute, enforcement should have been suspended until the bays were made Lawful, The council did none of these and continued to extort money from an unsuspecting public by defrauding them
Mr Harriss and Councillors, are you aware that more than 22,000 Penalty Charge Notices were enforced by Bailiffs since September 2000? The largest payment I have found paid to a Bailiff was £800 paid for parking in what is now admitted was an unlawful bay and the vast majority of these 22,000 Warrants of Execution will have been issued unlawfully and very possibly that number will have to be increased now that you have admitting that the Traffic Orders are not compliant, if the Traffic Regulation Orders do not comply, a parking contravention cannot occur. If the Bay is non compliant the contravention cannot occur.
I now ask the Councillors in the interests of Justice to force the issue of a public meeting regarding the circumstances surrounding parking bays in general and the unlawful application of PCN’s in particular and I will continue to insist for this in the interests of maintaining democratic processes and open-ness in Local Government.
The Council have lost the trust of the Public because of the lies, spin and misinformation that has been issued time and again from more than one department but which has subsequently been shown for the fiction that it is.

The local press and the vast majority of the public are behind my campaign against such deliberate illegality in local government and the Council are quickly losing credibility which it may be already too late to regain and thereby restore the situation to one of trust and reconciliation.
If the Council do not act in a positive and constructive manner soon this issue will get worse before it gets better.
The Council has been well and truly caught appropriating cash illegally, much better to address the situation now by admitting the irregularities rather than at a later date when the situation has been made worse by even more lies and deceit because by that time the public will be left in no doubt as to whether the Council is corrupt or not.

A requirement of regaining that trust must surely be disciplinary action against those responsible because they MUST have acted contrary to Council Policy. There is also a requirement for an honest and determined effort to be made to track down and make full and proper restitution to all those people illegally deprived of money and goods and thereby put right a grave miscarriage of Justice.

Incidentally I have now discovered that all the Bus Stop Bays in the Borough may also be unlawful, the Council were given until 31st December to comply with the New regulations from the TSRGD’s 2002 if Councils did not change the bays by then they should have been removed from the roads, see attached PDF file. The Council have just spent maybe a couple of hundred thousand pounds to resurface and re-sign Deane Road, it appears that the bus stop signing is illegal and the Bus Stop bay should be to Diagram 1025.1 on page 175 of the TSRGD’s 2002, however they can be easily rectified to make them compliant.

The mind boggles at the blundering incompetence of Bolton Council’s Highways and Engineering Department, The Legal Department and the Environmental Services Department, Mr Cox is quoting the 2002 Regulations to excuse the re-signing of the unlawful bays due to cost but he doesn’t use the same regulations to make everything lawful, i.e. Parking Bays, Bus Stop Bays, Signs and Plates etc, he apparently wants it both ways. How many copies of the TSRGD’s do the Council require before someone actually picks one up to read it.

Barry Moss

TSRGD's 1994 amendments 2002 TSRGD's
For disabled badge holder parking spaces (diagram 1028.3) may be reduced to a width of 1800mm where, on account of the nature of the traffic using the road, the width of the carriageway is insufficient to accommodate a wider bay.

20. Parking bays for buses are now prescribed as a variant of diagram 1028.3 (white marking and legend) rather than diagram 1028.2.

21. A new variant of the bay marking to diagram 1028.4 allows bays to be marked “Permit holders only”, which may be helpful where adjoining sets of bays are reserved for different classes of user.

26. Not all bus stops will have to be clearways if the bus stop flag sign is the only sign used (as may be appropriate on roads where buses can always pull up at the stop without being obstructed by parked vehicles). But any bays marked out for bus stops or stands after the TSRGD 2002 have come into force will have to include the edge of carriageway clearway marking shown in diagrams 1025.1, 1025.3 or 1025.4, and be accompanied by an upright sign to diagram 974 or 975 indicating that stopping by vehicles other than buses (or local buses) is prohibited.

27. A saving has been included in regulation 3 for existing bays to diagrams 1025 and 1025.2 to be retained until 31 December 2006 – by which time the bays should either have been converted to clearways by the addition of a continuous yellow line along the edge of carriageway, or the bay marking should have been removed.
It could be argued that the Council are still using the TSRGD's 1994 which has now been revoked. This would not surprise me in the least.


Wednesday 14 November 2007

Information on Restitution and Template letter for claiming such.

Simple definition of restitution for a fuller explanation search for "Laws of Restitution"

res·ti·tu·tion (rĕs'tĭ-tū'shən, -tyū'-) n.
The act of restoring to the rightful owner something that has been taken away, lost, or surrendered. .
The act of making good or compensating for loss, damage, or injury; indemnification.
A return to or restoration of a previous state or position.


Restitution based on Unjust Enrichment by Bolton Council due to the fact that the Council took away money from an individual in this case motorists, this income was unlawfully derived and as such you can ask for it back, in Wednesday's paper the Council are admitting that some bays are not correct, two in fact, (Does anyone really believe that) The Council cannot hold onto unlawfully Derived income they must with all due diligence trace the person who paid the Council the sum of money demanded on an unlawful bay and offer restitution, any money left over cannot be kept it must be given to a Charity or Charities.

For example: Mrs Bloggs pays £90 for a parking ticket for not displaying a Pay & Display ticket in Le-Mans Crescent in 2005, it later transpires that the bay was found not be be lawful because it did not comply with the Traffic Signs Regulation and General Directions 2002 it was an unlawful Hybrid Bay, this was confirmed by an email from the Department for Transport run by our very own Ruth Kelly, the council admit that the bays are unlawful in a statement issued by the Director of Environmental Services Malcolm Cox, on the same day another statement was issued by the Director of Legal Services inviting motorists who have been given a Penalty Charge Notice on any unlawful Bay that they could apply for a refund.

If you don't have the Parking Ticket details then first you must ask the Council for these details, Phone Parking Services on 01204 336352 give the vehicle reg No of the car you got the ticket for or your address and they will give the ticket number ask where the location was and the day it was issued and the Contravention on which the ticket was issued.

Now write to Parking Services at The Parking Shop, Minerva House, Chorley Street, Bolton, BL1 4AL. stating this:

Dear Parking Manager.
With reference to recent newspaper reports, regarding unlawful bays, I received a Penalty Charge Notice BO 1234567 for a contravention code 06 Parked without clearly displaying a valid pay & display ticket or voucher, this was in Barn St, Bolton on 15th August 2006, that bay has since been declared unlawful, therefore under the laws of restitution I ask that you repay the £90 I paid plus the parking charge of £0.70 plus statutory interest of 8% from the date you received payment and up to the present date, this amounts to a total of £107.04 which includes interest of 8% £16.04 interest will be added at 2p per day until payment is received
Failure to pay could result in a claim being filed in the County Court
Yours Faithfully

Joan Bloggs

If you had the Bailiffs in then it is different:

Example 2: Mr Bloggs got a parking ticket for Parking on the Mayors Bay (Permit Bay) in October 2006, it transpired that the bay was later deemed to be unlawful and the Council by their actions after a call from a parking campaigner changed the bay twice in just over 5 months and apparently it is still wrong. the Council in a local newspaper article admitted the bay was wrong actually straying away from the word unlawful, but by their own actions deemed the bay to be unlawful.

Using the letter above but adding in the relevant bits send this.

Dear Parking Manager.
With reference to recent newspaper reports, regarding unlawful bays, I received a Penalty Charge Notice BO 2345678 for a contravention code 16 Parked in a permit space without displaying a valid permit, this was in Victoria Square North , Bolton on 15th October 2006, that bay has since been declared unlawful, therefore under the laws of restitution I ask that you repay the £384 I paid to the Bailiffs plus damages of £175 for anxiety and distress plus statutory interest of 8% from the date you received payment, this amounts to a total of £607.53 which includes interest of 8% £48.53. interest will be added at 13p per day until payment is received.


Failure to pay could result in a claim being filed in the County Court

Yours Faithfully

Joe Bloggs


If you had the Bailiffs in and they levied distress on your Goods and Chattels (Goods that Bailiffs can move, Car, T.V, Dishwasher. DVD, etc)

Using the letter above but adding in the relevant bits send this.

Dear Parking Manager.

With reference to recent newspaper reports, regarding unlawful bays, I received a Penalty Charge Notice BO 3456789 for a contravention code 30 Parked for longer than permitted, this was in School Street Westhoughton.on the 8th September 2003. that bay has since been declared unlawful by a spokesperson from the Department for Transport, therefore under the laws of restitution I ask that you repay the £85 I paid to the Bailiffs plus damages of £175 for Anxiety and Distress plus Compensation for the removal of my goods and Chattels (See inventory list left by the Bailiffs) amounting to £3,230 which at auction and other Bailiffs charges amounted to realising only £397 off the cost of the Penalty Charge which was £472, I also claim statutory interest of 8% from the date you received payment, this amounts to a total of £4659.66 which includes statutory interest of 8% £1169.66. interest will be added at 81p per day until payment is received.
I also reserve my right to file a claim in the County Court for Punitive Damages.
Failure to pay could result in a claim being filed in the County Court


Yours Faithfully

Mrs Janet Smith

The Unlawful Bays and The LIE the whole LIE and nothing but LIES from Bolton Council


The back alley to the left in Barn Street is still being enforced despite me informing the Council that the lines are unenforceable.

In response to Bolton Council's statement in the Bolton News on Wednesday 14th November 2007 about there only being two bays that were wrong and if it was you who made the statement Mr Eastwood then your nose should be getting fairly large by now, also if you are a lawyer in the Legal department you have brought shame on your profession by being economical with the truth.
Below is a list of all the Parking Spaces I have checked out, photographed and documented, there are 89 locations in Bolton where a parking ticket can be issued if I haven't found any lawful bays in the 24 locations listed below, what are the odds of me finding any in the remaining 55 locations, anyone want to give me some odds, no takers eh!

If anyone wants a pic and an explanation of why any of the bays numbered below are unlawful email me, I will reply to your enquiry to the best of my endeavours, please leave your email address so I can make the reply, if anybody wishes to put in a claim for a refund then now is the time to do it.
I am away for a week in hospital from Saturday having a knee replaced (and my head examined) when I get back I will reply via email. bmoss@ntlworld.com or illegalfines@ntlworld.com


If you wish to get your money back then please read the next blog for a template letter.

BOLTON'S UNLAWFUL BAYS
1. Le- mans crescent = 3 Pay & Display bays approx holding 18
2. Le- mans crescent = 1 Loading Bay approx holding 2
3. Howell Croft North = 1 Pay & Display bays approx holding 5
4. Howell Croft North = 1 Taxi Bay approx holding 5
5. Victoria Sq North = 1 Taxi Bay approx holding 4
6. Victoria Sq North = 4 Disabled bays approx holding 10
7. Victoria Sq North = 1 Permit bay approx holding 1
8. Victoria Sq South = 1 Disabled bay approx holding 4
9. Victoria Sq South = 3 Pay & Display bays approx holding 8
10. Victoria Sq North = 2 permit bays holding 2
11. Howell St South = 1 Pay & Display bays holding 2
12. Howell St South = 1 Loading bay holding 1
13. Cheadle Square = Series of Echelon bays approx holding 16
14. Queen St = 2 Pay & display bays approx holding 12
15. Queen St = 2 Disabled bays approx holding 2
16. Barn St = 1 Pay & Display bay holding approx 6
17. Back St Gardens = 1 Pay & Display bay holding approx 10
18. Silverware St = 5 Pay & Display bays holding approx 20
19. Churchbank = 1 Disabled bay approx holding 3
20. Churchbank = 4 Pay & Display bays holding approx 20
21. Churchbank = Series of Echelon bays approx holding 7
22. Mawdsley St = 1 loading bay approx holding 1
23. Mawdsley St = 1 Pay & Display bay approx holding 2
24. Back Cheapside = 2 Disabled bays approx holding 8
25. Knowsley St = 1 Taxi bay holding approx 6 Taxis
26. Knowsley St = 2 Loading bays approx holding 3
27. Back Knowsley St = 2 Loading bays approx holding 4
28. Central St = 1 loading bay approx holding 2
29. Crown St = 1 Loading bay approx holding 2
30. Dawson Lane = 2 Pay & Display bays approx holding 12
31. Gartside St = 1 permit holders only bay approx holding 6
32. Gartside St = 4 Pay & Display bays approx holding 14
33. Marsden Road = 1 Pay & Display bays approx holding 5
34. Marsden Road = 1 Loading bay approx holding 2
35. Lorne St = 1 disabled bay approx holding 2
36. Deane road = Free outside 257 Deane Road approx holding 7

Westhoughton
School St = 1 Free bay restricted times approx holding 6
King St = 1 Loading bay approx holding 2
King St = 1 Disabled bay approx holding 2
Mill St = Resident permit bay approx holding 5






Friday 9 November 2007

Illegal Parking Bays repainted, Still not Correct TAXI BAY Victoria Sq North
















>>>>>>>>> BEFORE >>>>>>>>Click on the pics to enlarge>>>>>>>> AFTER >>>>>>>>>>>>

I have had a look at Bolton's new bays yesterday and whilst they have still not yet finished them all, this taxi Bay appears to be nowhere near what the bay should look like, the signing is totally incorrect, they are haphazard,

A spokesman for the Department for Transport said:
The upright sign seems to be a permitted variant of sign 650.2 in the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002 and the bay may conform to road marking 1028.2 This bay reserves parking for taxis should not have road marking 1018.1 which means parking is prohibited at any time. One may imagine circumstances when one combines road markings diagrams 1028.2 and 1017 but not 1018.1.

a 1017 diagram is a Single Yellow Line a 1018.1 is a Double Yellow Line so it appears that Taxis are not even allowed to park lawfully. There are 3 lines at the start of this bay and two at the other end, there should be two lines only at each end. the lines should be 600mm and the gaps can be 600mm Min to 2400mm Max, the minimum and maximum measurements gives the council Latitude to make the bays so that the Character of the Marking is maintained within the length of the bay, in other words the Gaps and Lines longitudinally should all be the same size, i.e the Lines should all be 600mm and the gaps should be whatever calculation the length of the bay determines them to be, there is a variance of 15% above and 10% below , but the character needs be maintained despite the variance. So despite all the money the council have thrown at this bay it is still unlawful, "It does not exist in Law".

So nothing new there then and more to the point.

Free Parking and Wasted Council Tax
Mr Molyneux please take Note!



http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/boltonnews/display.var.1814406.0.illegal_parking_bays_are_repainted.php#comments

Tuesday 6 November 2007

Police put parking investigation on hold

The Police have put the investigation on hold until the Council can come up with a water tight excuse for illegally taking money off motorists for parking in illegal bays in and around the Town Centre. Superintendant Durkin from Bolton central told me that the Council were using Chapter 5 of the Traffic Signs Manual to back up their reason for laying down illegal bays, The Traffic Signs Manual reinforces my allegation that the Bays are illegal and nothing in the TS Manual overrides the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002.
On Thursday through Mr Paul Winnard a spokesman for the council, I gave the Council until Midnight on Monday 5th November to Cease enforcement of all on street parking bays where a penalty charge notice can be issued and to issue restitution to all motorists who were given a Penalty Charge Notice in those bays, I can say that no communication has been received from the Council.
I must now ask Bolton Police to carry out a full criminal investigation of the Illegal Hybrid Parking Bays in Bolton.

The following was taken from Saturdays Bolton News


POLICE have put an investigation into claims parking bays across Bolton are illegal on hold.
Leading officers agreed to look into the allegations after they were contacted by campaigner Barry Moss.
Mr Moss, aged 61, of Daisy Hill, says he has yet to find an on-street bay in Bolton where the white markings comply with regulations.
He claims some bays are the wrong length, while in others individual parking spaces have not been marked out and the gap between split white lines alongside the bays is the wrong size.
Mr Moss says the council is guilty of misfeasance - wilful misconduct by a public officer.
But police have put their investigation on hold while the council seeks legal advice.
Supt Andy Durkin said: "The council do not accept at face value what Mr Moss is saying and are seeking legal advice.
"Until such time that advice is clear I am not going to add a third dimension to the situation."
Mr Moss said he accepted Supt Durkin's decision.
But added that the council must now suspend enforcement across all parking spaces, make them legal and then repay more than £6 million in fines.
The council this week suspended enforcement on two parking bays with space for 18 cars in Le Mans Crescent and Victoria Square North.
It admitted they had been repainted to the wrong length.

By removing these lines, could the Council be accused of Tampering with Evidence, however I have photographs of the bays before they were changed.

http://www.neilherron.blogspot.com/

Friday 2 November 2007

From one Campaigner to another

Quote from the Bolton News.
Cllr Nicholas Peel (Labour) said "Lines for the parking spaces in Victoria Square South and Le Mans Crescent would be repainted over the weekend".

He added: "A lot of the claims are incorrect, or have been rectified, and where we think there might be something in them we are seeking legal advice".

"To solve this, we need the courts to step in and interpret what the law means, rather than get swamped down in anomalies and technicalities."

And now a word from the campaigner
Well done Barry!!!

"To solve this, we need the courts to step in and interpret what the
law means, rather than get swamped down in anomalies and
technicalities."

translated means:
Bolton Council with unlimited public funds, 'professionals' paid for by the
taxpayer, are so inept that we need the Courts to help us out of this
mess. If we had been honest in the first place instead of committing
fraud and attempting to show people who's boss, then perphaps people
like Barry Moss etc might not be hammering us.


Westminster PCN and Clamp


The enclosed letter was as a result from a cry for help from Joe who works in Westminster, he came back to his car had a PCN and a clamp, he emailed me and from Bolton with the aid of Joe, a digital camera, a tape measure, and the Traffic Regulation Order, I determined the bay was invalid, he wrote to the Council for restitution and with the evidence I gave to Joe he got restitution of £115 on the illegal bay in Golden Square Westminster. Another victory against a Council collecting money on an illegal bay, when will these Council's toe the line. well done Joe for sticking with it.
CLICK ON THE LETTER TO ENLARGE IT

Thursday 1 November 2007

TODAY IN BOLTON... Council do a Cover Up but on Pay and Display machines (Not Good Enough.)








CLICK ON THE PICS TO MAKE THEM LARGER

Sorry! these pics look like they've been put on at random, bit like the bays really.


IF YOU CAN SPOT A LEGAL BAY IN THESE PICS YOU GET A TENNER OFF COUNCILLOR PEEL. because I am sure he would be more than happy to give a tenner away to find a legal bay anywhere in Bolton. THESE BAYS ARE ALL IN CHURCH BANK. the Echelon Bays (1033 bay) are invisible, but there may be the odd millimetre about eh Nick, but there's still not enough paint here to make a line let alone a bay.

Read this first
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/search/display.var.1801090.0.0.php

The Illegal Parking Bay issue will get worse before it gets better, it appears some of you have fallen into Labour Councillors Nick Peels trap of Politics, Mr Peel is the chairman of The Car Parking Policy Development Group of which a meeting was held yesterday, it was hurriedly brought forward by nearly three weeks to yesterday, This meeting was held in camera, the public were not invited which is against council policy, only an executive meeting can be held in camera (Without the Public)the reply formulated from that meeting is the reply you have just read from Mr Peel in page 2 of today's Bolton News, Mr Peel has been totally misinformed by the Council, if he or any other member of the council thinks it is about Millimetres they are totally wrong, Mr Peel has lied through his back teeth to the Bolton News, and the people of Bolton, furthermore, I would call Mr Peel a liar to his face on National TV, if it was about Millimetres I would not have brought the Parking issue up at all and had I done so, it would have been soon been shot down because there is a legal term which the Bolton Legal and Parking services would have used as a get out, the term is De Minimis Non Curat Lex meaning ‘The law does not concern itself with trifles', why did the Council not use this legal get out if it is about Millimetres, Mr Peel I am no idiot and neither are the public, you have lied to the Public through a newspaper, retract your statement publicly, resign and move away, the good citizens of Bolton do not want the likes of liars acting on their behalf. The illegal bays are illegal because they are Unlawful Hybrids, they are a hotchpotch of several types of bays of which there are only four and Bolton Council cannot get even one bay correct, but even if Mr Peel was telling a semblance of truth, what about the bays that are illegal because of missing lines, take a walk down church bank, the bays are invisible, no lines exist at all except the odd millimetre, perhaps this is what Mr Peel is referring to when he is talking about Millimetres and if it is about Millimetres watch the workmen around Le-Mans Crescent when they remove the special paint, they will not be putting the paint back, they will be completely transforming the Bay to make it legal so they can hold onto your Parking Fine lawfully, but I bet you a pound to a penny it will still be illegal when it's finished because no one in the Highways Dept whose job it is to make sure everything is OK do not have a clue what they are doing. if the Council are going to take £60 off you then they must use the law to take it. You can ask for restitution from the council, write a letter and ask them for your money back, if they won't give it you go to the Police and ask them to investigate a criminal offence of FRAUD. here is an email received today from Bolton Council who have been stalling over ceasing enforcement because they say they are relying on Chapter 5 of the Traffic Signs Manual.
Dear Mr Moss Please find below the answer to your question.
Bolton Council is bound by the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002 as this is a regulation. It also uses Chapter 5 of the Traffic Signs manual to put into context, apply, interpret and install. We refer back to the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002 if there is any discrepancy between the two documents. I have been using the Traffic Signs and General Directions 2002 which is a Statutory Instrument to hammer home to Bolton Council of why the bays are illegal, Chapter 5 of the Traffic Signs manual not only reinforces my allegations but overturns their argument completely. the operative words in the email are BOLTON COUNCIL ARE BOUND BY. Here is an extract from the first paragraph of the Traffic Signs Manual.
1. Introduction.
1.1 The Traffic Signs Manual is intended to give advice to traffic authorities and their agents on the correct use of signs and road markings.
Mandatory requirements are set out in the current version of the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions; nothing in the manual can override these.
so that's it in a nutshell, I am right and the Council are wrong and Nick Peel is a LIAR.