Council 'stubborn' and 'unreasonable' over parking ticket, says Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club member

Rochdale Borough Council has been described as “stubborn” and “unreasonable” after a parking ticket was issued to a driver who insists he was not parking in the spot he was ticketed.

Paul Lever says that he had stopped his car so he could clear the entrance way to Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club and despite telling the parking warden that he was not parked and was clearing the entrance so he could make his way into the club, he was still given a ticket.

Mr Lever said: “I am a member of the Hollingworth Sailing Club and I was driving into the club to collect my sailing boat. The entrance route to the club was not clear for vehicles to reverse into as there were some boat road trailers in the way.

“Before I could reverse into the club I therefore had to clear the entrance route. I left my car for a couple of minutes near to the entrance. I had not left it there in a parked position and it also was not an obstruction. I was then going to reverse the car into the sailing club.

“As I was clearing the route, and only after a couple of minutes after getting out of my car, a passer-by shouted to me and said if that was my blue car I should go back to it as a lady was in the process of putting a penalty charge on it. I ran back to the car and spoke to her and said I was about to take it into the club and I had not left it parked. She said she had already issued the notice (although she was in the process of this) and said I would need to appeal it.”

Mr Lever has been informed that his appeal has been unsuccesful and the ticket will not be overturned; he described the person at Parking Services dealing with the issue as “unreasonable”.

Mr Lever added: “I had not parked my car. I had stopped it momentarily to free up the entrance to the sailing club. This was akin to a vehicle parked outside a building momentarily to make a delivery. My vehicle was not obstructing any other vehicles and was not blocking the access road.

“I do believe that the parking warden was over-strict in placing a PCN on my vehicle in these circumstances. I think they need to be aware that in certain circumstances vehicles connected with the club may have to momentarily stop their car before driving into the club. I appreciate she would not have known I was doing this until I approached her as she was attaching the PCN to the car. She did immediately state that I should challenge the PCN.”

Following the incident, Mr Lever now states that he will be looking for a new sailing club as he believes the parking pressures put on by Rochdale Council will begin to harm the club.

He said: “Because of the council’s stubborn approach, I do not feel safe using Hollingworth Sailing Club again next year and I will look for a club which does not have these parking pressures. The approach of Rochdale Borough Council has penalised the sailing club going forwards. The council will lose the money I would have paid for parking in the next few years and local businesses will lose the money I would have spent.”

Mark Widdup, Rochdale Borough Council Director of Neighbourhoods, said: “All our car parks are laid out to allow as many cars to park as possible without causing an obstruction or blocking drivers sightlines.

"Mr Lever’s car was stopped outside of a marked bay and unoccupied. It was therefore considered to be parked dangerously and issued with a ticket.

"The details in Mr Lever’s appeal were not consistent and did not provide sufficient grounds to cancel the ticket.

"Enforcing bad parking in Hollingworth Lake car park ensures that access is always maintained to the sailing club for visitors and emergency vehicles.”