| Topic: | Re:Zone K1 Parking Permit Cock Up - Beware! | |
| Posted by: | Jane Bryant | |
| Date/Time: | 08/01/10 00:29:00 |
| Here is a copy of the email sent to Councillor Vlod Barchuk and Ealing Parking Services. As I think you can probably tell, Ealing Council has really p....d me off. It's not actually the overcharging that has gotten up my nose as it is not a great amount in my individual case. Taken collectively however and if this has been done to the many, it certainly is. What gets my goat so entirely is the you pleb, us lords of the manner scenario. Insofar as I recall, it is our taxes that pay their salaries. From the way these Ealing Council minions behave,you'd never guess it. Dear Vlod Barchuk, Ealing Parking Services et al I live at xxxxxx. As you are the Councillor for my area, I am bringing to your attention a problem that has arisen with the K1 Controlled Parking Zone in Acton. Whether by incompetence or design, Ealing Council (EC) has been incorrectly overcharging for Zone K1 parking permits. Either way, it's a disgrace. On 5 January 2010, I received a letter from EC (attached) asking me to pay £45 for the residents parking permit in Zone K1. When I attempted to renew my parking permit from the EC website as the letter suggests, I was unable to complete the transaction online as the EC website is a comprehensive mess. What struck me from the online documentation however, was that the charge for a parking permit in Zone K1 is NOT £45 as EC has incorrectly stated in its letter to me dated 5 January, but £25. Having checked my records, it appears that I have been paying EC £45 for a parking permit at xxxxx since 2005 to the present day by EC’s written request. I note from documentation I have on file, Zone K1 was created on 30 April 2008 and that the residents in that area were to pay £25 per annum from then on. Have I been paying EC over the odds at their request since 2005 or only since Zone K1 was created on 30 April 2008? In any event, it is quite clear that EC owes me both money and an apology. When I telephoned EC Parking Services on two occasions to get some answers, I could get no sense from them at all. Instead, I was told that all the residents in Zone K1 were no longer allowed to park in Zone K and that if any of them did so, they could all expect a parking ticket! This is entirely contrary to the minutes of the EC meeting published on the ActonW3 website (attached). Despite my repeated request that someone in authority from EC telephone me to explain this situation, no call has been forthcoming. The questions obviously arise: How many other residents in Zone K1 have been subjected to this overcharging incompetence? How is EC planning to resolve this situation? How many people have been affected? I became so disillusioned with the response that I have received from EC Parking Services over this matter that I have brought it to the attention of the Acton & Ealing Gazette. Vlod, I would be grateful if you could respond at your earliest convenience. This should not be allowed to go on any further. It casts the borough in an extremely bad and incompetent light at best. With best wishes Jane Bryant |