The Property Team within the Metropolitan Police have rejected a call from local Assembly Member Thomas Turrell to refund tickets from the first week of enforcements on the Waitrose access road.
Thomas had asked that the first week be treated as a warning to drivers and asked the Police some questions on the timetable of implementation. The questions and answers are shown below:
Q: Confirm with Britannia parking that drivers waiting to enter Waitrose are not being fined (as some have reported)? For context there is a roundabout at the bottom of the access road as you approach the car park which can mean drivers need to legitimately stop on the road without parking.
A: Drivers using Waitrose should not be receiving fines. The cameras on the access road are linked with the Waitrose cameras and Britannia can see who is using the access road and then continuing on to Waitrose. It has been noticed however that some drivers have driven down the access road, entered the Waitrose car park then turned round immediately and exited the car park and parked up on the access road, any vehicle doing this will receive a fine. Britannia are following their corporate Waitrose appeals process for when they receive appeals, so genuine cases are being looked in to and accepted.
Q: Confirmation of what date signage was installed to say that the restrictions would be enforced, and what notice was put at the site to warn drivers that fines would be issues? The date of the first fine that was issued?
A: Signs informing drivers of fines were installed on 18th October. The access road has for many years had no parking signs on the police station wall, and the other side of the road has double yellow lines to indicate no parking, so vehicles should never have been parking on the road. Admittedly the yellow lines are faded but are still visible and we have been unable to repaint them due to the vehicles constantly parked on the road.
Q: Will MOPAC write off any fines between the implementation date of the 15th November and the 22nd November and treat these notices as a warning?
Q: Ask that Britannia also review all fines issues in this first week to ensure none have been issued in error to those waiting to enter Waitrose (as claimed by some residents).
Questions 3 and 4 were answered together.
A: Britannia Parking is an active member of the British Parking Association (BPA) and we follow their Code of Practice at all times. The Code of Practice details that a “no stopping” area does not require a minimum consideration period.
The road is not a designated drop-off area and stopping has been prohibited for several years. Although our contractual agreement allows for strict enforcement, we opted for a softer approach making several adjustments to enforcement, including a significant consideration period, to ease the motorists into the new ANPR system and help clear congestion. These adjustments were made based on reviewing data obtained from the ANPR camera system and using industry knowledge and data.
We meet all signage requirements under the BPA's Code of Practice for notifying the driver of the terms and conditions. However, additional "no parking" and specifically “no drop off” signs have been ordered and are scheduled for installation to further draw motorists’ attention to the restrictions.
The camera system operates in tandem with Waitrose’s system, ensuring fair enforcement. While occasional misreads may occur due to mitigating factors outside our control, such as cracked/dirty number plates, tailgating or speeding, we can confirm that the accuracy for Waitrose exceeds 99%, which is comparable to any ANPR camera system in use.
Processes are in place to handle appeals in a fair way, including requesting additional evidence and reviewing the ANPR camera system where necessary. We advise any motorist to appeal a parking charge if they do not agree that it was issued correctly or believe they have mitigating circumstances for the contravention.
