This letter is written for the information and benefit of persons who recently had fixed penalty notices affixed to their vehicles recently, for ‘alleged’ parking infringements in the area of the refurbishment works on Peel’s East Quay.

I say ‘alleged’ because the Department of Infrastructure admitted in an e-mail to me of June 19 that ‘until the relevant TROs (Traffic Regulation Orders) and signage is in place the changes will not be in effect’.

In my e-mail on June 27 I said: ‘If the TRO hasn’t been made, then the changes can’t have effect irrespective of whether they need the signage in place to support them. Do you agree?”

The DoI failed to answer this question but, indirectly, now answered it in an e-mail to me of August 29 by saying: ‘The TROs to amend any waiting restrictions in Peel are currently being processed.

‘They will be advertised as part of that process. Should any driver be in receipt of a fixed penalty then the ticket affixed to the windscreen sets out how to appeal it.

‘An acceptable reason for an appeal is if the driver believes the TRO to be deficient.

‘Any subsequent review of the circumstances by the issuing authority will then check if an active TRO was in force.’

I’ve replied and said: ‘You haven’t openly admitted, however, that the fixed penalty notices which have been issued were unlawful because a relevant TRO wasn’t in place to support them. Will you now openly admit, please, that this is the case?

‘I have to say I find it astonishing that rather than take action yourself to have the fixed penalty notices rescinded and refunded and an apology for their unlawful issue given to all persons who received them, you simply encourage anyone who may be in receipt of a fixed penalty to simply appeal it as soon as possible to allow this review to take place, meaning such individuals now have to spend their own time – as soon as possible – taking action to have the fixed penalty notices served on them, rescinded.

‘What you don’t say though, is what the grounds of appeal are which such persons should use to appeal the fixed penalty.

‘This is an appalling way to treat members of the public who haven’t done anything wrong. You might care to reflect on this. Your department messed up here by not informing the Police that they should not issue fixed penalty notices for parking “violations” on East Quay, until such time as the relevant TRO is in place.’

Any person whose vehicle has had a fixed penalty notice affixed to their vehicle in the circumstances described, is, as the DoI says, ‘encouraged to appeal it as soon as possible’.

They may wish to use a copy of this letter as their grounds of appeal.

Trevor Cowin

Poortown Road

Peel

This letter was first published in the Manx Independent of September 7..

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