Barnet CPZ Action

High Court reject legal challenge

2012-02-08T15:33:00.003Z

In a bitter blow today, a High Court Judge rejected our application to overturn Barnet's CPZ charges.

The decision is as surprising as it is disappointing. We had genuinely expected the Judge to find that we had raised a serious case that needed to be decided at a full trial.

The case in the event turned on a very narrow question: whether a Council can set resident's parking charges to raise revenue for things that have nothing to do with resident's parking (paying for travel passes for the elderly and fixing potholes in the case of Barnet).

We relied on two High Court cases which we say make it clear that parking charges need to address a parking related need (the cost of running a CPZ and the need in some areas to dampen demand might be lawful reasons to increase charges).

This is what we firmly believe;
It is what David Attfield's solicitors firmly believe;
It is what David's QC firmly believes;
It is what the RAC Foundation firmly believes;
It is even what Westminster Council firmly believed when they proposed introducing night time parking charges: they argued that the charges were needed to dampen demand, not to raise revenue to fix potholes.

We need to think carefully about our next steps. Legally, there is merit in taking the question of whether CPZ residents should pay for travel passes and potholes to the Court of Appeal. But we must assess what the cost of this would be and whether we have the necessary support. We will keep you posted.

We leave you with some food for thought: If Barnet and the Judge are correct that parking charges can always be used to pay for a Council's transport spending, then there is scope for Barnet to double or even treble the current charges. Barnet makes about £5 million profit a year from parking but spends around £15m on transport (mainly paying for bus passes). How much more of the burden of paying for travel passes and potholes will Barnet try to offload onto CPZ residents?

Barnet issue corrected information about visitor voucher sales

2012-02-06T18:50:00.001Z

If you have looked at our blog over the past few days, you would have seen a post about the decline in the sale of visitor vouchers. Our blog was based on information disclosed by Barnet Council last week under the Freedom of Information Act.

Barnet Council have today informed us that their information was incorrect and that the number of £4 vouchers sold was much higher than they had stated. We have therefore deleted our blog entry.

Permit sales down = parking fines up

2012-01-30T22:04:00.001Z

In our last post, we exposed how sales of visitor vouchers at £4 each have collapsed. The Council is therefore making much less money from CPZ permit and voucher sales than it had forecast.

But there is one area of parking revenue that is surging. Parking fines! Not surprisingly, many people are refusing to pay £4 for what may just be a few minutes of parking. Barnet Council is now routinely issuing one thousand more parking tickets each week compared with the previous year.

Unbelievably, this financial year Barnet Council has issued more parking tickets than it has sold visitor vouchers!

While we wait for our Court hearing on 8 February, some interesting facts

2012-01-26T22:38:00.001Z

In the days leading up to our Court hearing on 8 February, we will be posting some of the facts that we have discovered whilst preparing our case.

Fact No 1: Quadrupling the cost of a visitor voucher to £4 has raised little extra money.
The Council's own "Parking Recovery Plan" acknowledges that there have been "high levels of resistance" to the CPZ charges. You bet there has! Papers published by the Council just last week reveal the extent of this resistance:

Visitor Vouchers sold in 2010/11: 298,506 i.e £298,506 of revenue
Visitor vouchers sold 2011/12 to date (9.5 months): 79,200 i.e. £316,800 of revenue

In a few days time we will reveal what has happened to the number of parking tickets issued by Barnet.

Important News!

2012-01-06T17:46:00.010Z

Happy New Year to all our supporters.

We have two important pieces of news to report.

Date of Court hearing: Wednesday 8th February 2012

There will be a vital court hearing in the legal action against Barnet Council on Wednesday 8th February. We will be asking the High Court to give David Attfield permission to take his claim against Barnet to trial. We must win this hearing if the action is to proceed.

The hearing will be at the Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London WC2 and David will be represented by Martin Westgate QC. This is a public hearing and we hope that as many of you as possible will wish to attend in order to convey to the judge what the strength of feeling is. Unfortunately we won't know the time of the hearing until the day before. It is likely to last 1.5 to 2 hours. If you are interested in attending, please email us at barnetcpz@gmail.com and we will let you know the time as soon as it is known.

CPZ charges are to increase again!

Barnet are planning to increase the cost of a resident's permit to £105 (up from £100). Visitor vouchers will soon cost £50 for 12 (meaning each voucher will cost an absolutely absurd £4.17!). Other CPZ charges are also increasing: A permit for a second car will cost £130. Pity anyone who needs a three month temporary permit which will now cost £252! If you need a parking suspension outside your home, the cost will be an eye watering £63 per space per day.

You can let the council know what you think of these proposals by emailing eando.consultation@barnet.gov.uk.
Please do this as soon as possible as the consultation about these increases ends on 20 January. Full details of the consultation can be found at this link (the new CPZ charges are on page 9 of the last attachment): http://engage.barnet.gov.uk/environment-and-operations/epr_feesandcharges2

You may also want to put your views direct to the people who really matter: You can email Councillor Brian Coleman (the cabinet member putting forward these proposals) at cllr.b.coleman@barnet.gov.uk. The email address of the council leader (Richard Cornelius) is cllr.r.cornelius@barnet.gov.uk

You could also tell your MP about how you are being treated by the council.
Mike Freer MP: mike.freer.mp@parliament.uk
Theresa Villiers MP: theresa@theresavilliers.co.uk

Finally, email addresses for all Barnet Councillors can be found here: http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/council/listcouncillorname.asp?intSubSectionID=13&intSectionID=9

2011-12-25T08:51:00.000Z

2011-12-20T14:23:00.000Z

ACT NOW - London Borough of Barnet Civic Awards AND Petition to Reverse Parking Charges

Many of you may be aware that the annual Barnet Civic Awards nomination deadline of December 31st is fast approaching. Nominees for these awards are people resident or working within the borough and who have provided a significant contribution to the local community in 2011. Barnet CPZ Action committee would like to recommend you nominate the following individuals for these awards:

- David Attfield, who, as you all know, has led the Barnet CPZ Action legal fight for the benefit of thousands of households in the borough.

- Derek Dishman, aka Mr Mustard, for extensively monitoring and keeping his website followers well informed on Barnet Council decisions and actions (for more information please visit http://lbbspending.blogspot.com), and who has also been extremely supportive to the Barnet CPZ Action campaign.

We hope you will share our feelings towards the above individuals and spare a moment to fill in the attached form that we have downloaded from the following web-link: http://www.barnet.gov.uk/civic-awards-2012.pdf

We believe that these Awards can represent a great opportunity for those of us who feel strongly about the democratic process and perhaps deliver another wake-up call to some of our Barnet councillors, so please ACT NOW AS THE DEADLINE FOR NOMINATIONS IS 31st DECEMBER 2011.

The address for delivery of nomination forms is:

The Mayor’s Office,

Civic Awards, London Borough of Barnet

Oakleigh Road South

London N11 1PN

Should you require David Attfield's contact information, please do not hesitate to contact us at barnetcpz@gmail.com.

*************************

You will probably share our enthusiasm for the signing of this new petition started by Labour Councillors regarding the parking situation in the borough. If you have not seen it, please check out the link below.

Labour Group e-petition to reverse parking charges is now online

To sign the petition go to: http://petitions.barnet.gov.uk/parkingcharges/

The aim is to get 7,000 signatures by March next year, which by law would force a council debate on the issue.

2,000 signatures would result in an officer review of the policy.

Please circulate the petition to friends, family and supporters and ask them to sign.

The text of Labour's parking petition is:

"We the undersigned, request Barnet Council to reverse the parking charge increases implemented in 2011 that are having such a damaging impact on our local town centres and residents at a time when they can least afford it. We need action now to help small businesses and relieve residents. We believe that reversing the parking charges will increase the number of shoppers in our town centres, giving struggling local businesses and traders a much needed boost and helping our hard-pressed residents in these difficult economic times."

Rip Off Britain broadcast

2011-12-13T14:15:00.008Z

The BBC series Rip Off Britain has today included coverage of our campaign.

The broadcast includes an extended interview with a campaign member, active campaign supporters Janis and Ken, various other Barnet residents as well as local builders, all of whom are severely impacted by the rise in Barnet parking charges for visitors and residents. Also appearing in the broadcast was Paul Watters from the AA who characterises the unfairness of the parking charges as blatant profiteering.

Barnet council were asked to respond via interview, they chose only to respond in writing essentially saying that the residents asked for the CPZ and can now ask for its removal. The council did not respond to Rip Off Britain on the essential point of unwarranted price rises except the same old same old 'in line with other boroughs'.

To view the broadcast click this LINK and scroll to 31½ minutes.

UPDATE
The Rip Off Britain excerpt now appears on youtube:

Barnet CPZ Action feature on BBC Inside Out and BBC London 94.9

2011-12-07T10:06:00.006Z

Our campaign to overturn Barnet's outrageous CPZ charges has been featured in two recent BBC programmes. You can access them below if you missed them.

Inside Out is an investigative current affairs programme for London. They looked at parking charges in a number of boroughs but even in this rogue's gallery, the £4 cost of a visitor voucher in Barnet stands out.

The same day, BBC London interviewed two of our supporters on its Drivetime programme, who spoke powerfully about the impact of the charges on the elderly and young families in particular. The presenter begins by commenting that, in some boroughs, charges over the past three have gone up by 50% but that in Barnet "they have gone up by much, much more".

The actual interview done by Anna O'Neill of BBC London News is also served on the Audio Boo website as below.

Barnet CPZ Action campaign group vows to fight on in their bid to bring Barnet Council to the High Court over parking charges. (mp3)

2011-11-21T23:38:00.005Z

NEWSLETTER NO 9

Many of you will have heard that a deputy High Court judge last week refused David Attfield permission to take his case all the way to trial. The reason given by the deputy judge was that David's application was similar to another challenge mounted by a Barnet resident over the summer, which was thrown out. However, that resident did not have any legal representation and, in our opinion, did not raise a clear legal argument to address Barnet's case that the charges are permitted by the relevant legislation. It appears that last week, the deputy judge may simply have decided to follow that earlier decision, and did not fully consider whether the arguments we raised were different.

David's barrister (Martin Westgate QC, one of the country's leading public law barristers) has reconfirmed his advice that the case is strong and that we should press ahead. He is confident because Barnet are simply unable to address the issue at the heart of the case that high parking charges are only lawful to address a traffic management need. At an oral hearing before a different High Court judge we will have more opportunity to convey our argument clearly.

Fortunately, thanks to your generosity, we are financially in a position to pursue the action further and we will not actively seek more donations until the case is back on track.

In the meantime, it is more important than ever that you continue to show your opposition to the charges because they remain far higher than other London boroughs and have such a terrible impact on so many people:

· Britain's best selling family car is the Ford Focus 1.6. The £100 cost of a permit for this car in Barnet is one the highest in the whole of London. Even Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea are cheaper. The £100 cost in Barnet is considerably higher than in any neighbouring borough where a permit costs between £30 and £76.10.

· The £4 cost of visitor vouchers far exceeds charges in comparable boroughs. Most outer London boroughs charge a flat rate of around £1 for a visitor voucher. A number of boroughs charge by the hour or half hour, meaning that a one hour visit costs as little as 30p. Inviting eight guests to a child’s birthday party costs £32 in Barnet. In adjoining CPZs in neighbouring boroughs (Haringey, Enfield, Brent, Harrow and Camden), that cost would be between £4.80 and £13.20.

These are facts!!! Yet the Council continues to ignore them and their press response to last week's court ruling was: "People who live in a CPZ enjoy considerable benefits and therefore it is reasonable that they make some financial contribution. Our charges are in now line with other London boroughs" (Councilor Brian Coleman).

In addition, we understand that further increases in CPZ charges are planned for early next year, adding to the absurdly high cost. The threat of CPZ residents being held to ransom year after year is too important and our arguments, both legal and moral, are too strong for us to give up. We fight on!

Legal challenge encounters set back

2011-11-15T10:54:00.009Z

Published this morning in Times Series.

Legal Action Update: Bad news from the Court but the fight goes on

On Monday we learned that a High Court judge had turned down David Attfield’s initial application for permission to pursue his legal challenge all the way to trial. In a short note of his reasons, the Judge claimed that the challenge was similar to another legal challenge mounted by a Barnet resident which was dismissed back in the summer.

This is undoubtedly a set back. We had expected to be given the green light based on two High Court precedents which establish that high parking charges need to be justified by the need to control parking or traffic in the areas concerned. Simply saying, as Barnet do, that more money is needed to pay for the Freedom Pass for the over 60s and to fix potholes across the borough is not enough (compare Barnet’s stance to that of Westminster who are bending over backwards to demonstrate that evening and Sunday parking charges are needed to control supposedly out of control demand for parking). However, we clearly failed to convey this point to the Judge.

We will also need to explain why the earlier challenge to Barnet’s CPZ charges is not a safe precedent. The resident in the earlier challenge had no legal representation and failed to advance a detailed legal argument. We need to explain why that poorly resourced legal challenge should in no way be regarded as confirming the legality of Barnet’s charges.

This is not the end of the road. Yesterday’s decision was made by a deputy judge who considered the matter on paper. We will have an opportunity in the New Year to present our case to a more senior judge orally at a hearing. This is not strictly an appeal but more of a right to a second, more considered, opinion. The legal team will of course need to think carefully about why the case was initially turned down. We will need to make the case sound compelling to an over-worked High Court judge who, even if just sub-consciously, would welcome reducing the workload of the courts by turning some litigants away.

David Attfield is asking his barrister, Martin Westgate QC, to assess again the prospects of success in light of this development and we will update you on this to the extent we can (some advice will need to be kept confidential in order not to inform Barnet of our thinking). We believe the advice will still be positive because the basic facts have not changed:
Barnet do not attempt to argue that there is a need to control parking demand and traffic in its CPZs.
Its charges are far out of line with those in other boroughs. Inviting 8 guests to a toddler's birthday party costs £32 in Barnet but £4.80 in Haringey and £8 in Enfield. Even in Islington the cost would be just £12.80.
Plus there is the obvious unfairness of the tiny minority of residents in CPZs paying for services for the whole borough. The effect is that CPZ residents have to pay £9 to ensure that the non-CPZ residents can avoid paying £1.
The need to ensure that CPZ residents are not held to ransom year after year is too important for us to give up now. And the arguments (both legal and moral) are too strong. We fight on!

Click here and here for latest media coverage on this matter.

Quiz Night Goes Down a Storm

2011-11-14T12:13:00.011Z

Our Quiz and Auction on 12 November was a huge success

Thank you to everyone who took part

There is absolutely no sign of anger over Barnet's outrageous CPZ charges dying down. On Saturday night, 90 Barnet residents packed into the East Finchley Constitutional Club to show their support for the legal challenge and to enjoy an evening of fun and trivia.

We attach below some photos of this sell out event. Sorry to those who missed out on tickets.

Our congratulations go to the Grumpy Old Couples who were comfortable winners of the quiz and to all the winners in our raffle and auction. Thanks to everyone's generosity, we raised over £1,500.

If you weren't able to attend, you can still make a donation to support our legal challenge online. Just click the "Donate" button on the homepage of our website.

Click on the pictures for the higher resolution versions.

2011-11-09T13:52:00.000Z

QUIZ NIGHT

SOLD OUT

We are very sorry for any disappointment.

If you would still like to participate in the auction and/or would like to be put on a waiting list for cancellations, please email us at mailto:barnetcpz@gmail.com

2011-11-07T10:26:00.003Z

Hurry hurry hurry

Quiz and Auction Night Reminder

Tickets are going fast so get yours quickly to avoid disappointment.

Help us fight the battle against these outrageous increases we are all being forced to pay.

We need YOU!

As yet we have no teams from Finchley, Temple Fortune, Hendon, or Golders Green

We are also holding a Raffle with great prizes, including:

Meal for Two at the Bald Faced Stag Gastro Pub in East Finchley

Phoenix Cinema Tickets for two

Half case of wine

Waitrose Christmas Hamper

And more…..

Click here http://barnetcpz.blogspot.com to take you directly to our blogsite for tickets

Promises Auction

(click here for full catalogue).

· Snacks by the Lazy Sally Café and licensed bar!

Join us on 12 November!

Tear your hair out with our quiz!

Win some great prizes!

Barnet CPZ Action needs your support!

Quiz and Auction Night 12 November

2011-11-05T18:49:00.011Z

Quiz Night and Auction
12 November
Thanks to your generous support, we're well on the way to riasing the money we need to take our legal action all the way to trial.

But the fact is that we still need more.

So we've arranged a packed evening of trivia and fun on Saturday,12 November to raise much needed funds:

· Trivia quiz with picture, music and local knowledge rounds

· A truly awesome auction conducted by local celebrity auctioneers: win a week in a Majorcan holiday cottage; tickets to Lords; a garden consultation; dog grooming; hypnotherapy session; children’s photo shoot and more! (click here for full catalogue).

· A stellar raffle: Win a meal at the Bald Faced Stag; a Waitrose Christmas hamper or a half case of wine!

· Snacks by the Lazy Sally Café and licensed bar!

Join us on 12 November!

Tear your hair out with our quiz!

Win some great prizes!

Barnet CPZ Action needs your support!

When: 8pm, Saturday 12 November

Where: The East Finchley Constitutional Club, The Walks, off Oakridge Drive, East Finchley N2 8DE

Cost: Just £5

To purchase click on the Donate button (upper right) marking your payment 'Quiz Night'. Your tickets will be sent via email within 24 hours. Or send a cheque payable to “Barnet CPZ Action” to 88 Summerlee Avenue, London N2 9QH

BBC Filming

2011-10-28T19:46:00.001+01:00

A big thank you to everyone who responded and/or offered their help with our recent request for participants in the recent BBC filming featuring our Campaign. Details of those of you who were available on the dates were given to the researchers and we hope that many of you were contacted.

Filming was carried out on Wednesday and Friday of last week and we all had a very busy and exciting time of it. We hope the outcome will be fruitful and promote our cause in the best possible way.

The producers will let us know when the programmes are due to be screened which should be approximately mid to the end of November, but when we have firm dates we will let you know.

Many thanks again for your support.

Barnet CPZ Action

2011-10-25T21:13:00.003+01:00

Quiz Night and Auction

Join us on 12 November for an evening of trivia and fun,

and help raise much needed money

to support the ongoing legal action

Tickets cost £5. To purchase tickets, please use the "Donate" button opposite, ensuring you quote Quiz Night in the comments box. Tickets will be sent to your email address within 24 hours. Or send a cheque payable to "Barnet CPZ Action" to 88 Summerlee Avenue, London N2 9QH

Please click here for the auction catalogue.

Please click here for the auction catalogue

We're in the Sunday Times (9 October)! But rather than address the issue, Barnet choose to lie.

2011-10-09T15:29:00.007+01:00

Those of you who read the Sunday Times may have seen a 2 page article in the In Gear section (© The Sunday Times) looking at how councils have been increasing parking charges. The article focuses on Barnet in particular and the case of a family (the Parkers) who had to spend £32 on parking vouchers to hold a party at home for their 3 year old daughter is featured prominently.

Its a great way of illustrating how the charges impact on everyday activities. The only disappointment is that Barnet Council are quoted as saying the following: "We have held down the prices of residents' parking for several years but circumstances dictate that we have to bring them into line with other London boroughs"

Its hard to have a debate with the Council when they resort to this sort of nonsense. The statement that charges in Barnet have been brought "in line with other London boroughs" is simply not true. Barnet Council must know the facts yet they misinform perhaps 1 million readers in order to save themselves from embarrassment. Barnet Council well know that if the Parkers had held their daughter's party in the adjacent Haringey street, they would have spent £4.80 on parking, not the £32 they spent in Barnet.

The Mail on Sunday also picked up on the story, highlighting the absurd £32 cost of inviting 8 toddlers to a birthday party.

The Barnet CPZ Action Quiz Night and Promises Auction

2011-10-04T22:07:00.003+01:00

We're organising a
Quiz Night and Promises Auction
to raise money to support the legal action

To be held in November (date to be confirmed) at the East Finchley Constitutional Club, N2

We hope you can join us for a fun evening of trivia, food and drink.
The Lazy Sally Cafe will be providing some of their great snacks and you can bid to win some fantastic (and generously donated) prizes in our auction:

A week in the beautiful Majorcan village of Fornalutz (pictures coming soon)
Tickets for Lords
Dinner for 2 at the Bald Faced Stag
Portrait photography
Hypnotherapy
Garden consultation
Tickets to the Phoenix Cinema

Might you also be able to offer a prize our the auction? Dog walking, gardening, sport or theatre tickets you don't need or even use of a holiday home? If so, we'd love to hear from you: barnetcpz@gmail.com

It will be a great night and, of course, you'll be supporting the legal fight to overturn Barnet council's unfair parking charges for CPZ residents.

How much is each Visitor Voucher? £4? £4.80? Even the Council don't seem to know!

2011-09-23T09:42:00.013+01:00

The numerically challenged folk at Barnet Council mess up again!

You may remember that back in March Barnet Council wasted taxpayers' money advertising incorrect parking permit charges in the local press. To comply with the law, they had to re-advertise using the correct charges after we pointed out their mistake. This resulted in the introduction of the new charges being delayed by a month, giving hundreds of people the chance to renew their permits at the old rates.

Now we learn that Barnet Council is informing residents who try to buy visitor vouchers online that they cost £48 for 10 vouchers (Current application form is on this webpage). So that's £4.80 each. The law is crystal clear that Barnet can only charge £4 per voucher because this is the price stated in the statutory Notice that brought in the increase.

Is this just another example of Council incompetence and only a mistake on the form? Or has the Council actually charged anyone £4.80 for a voucher of £48 for 10? If so, its a very serious matter as this would be unlawful. If you have been charged this, please let us know.

Now Barnet, repeat after me: One times four is four; two times four is.....

UPDATE

A resident has just forwarded the following email exchange with the Council. Unbelievably, the Council are not able to say how much residents are being charged for parking vouchers!

From: <CUSTOMER.SERVICES@BARNET.GOV.UK>

Date: 23 September 2011 11:20:37 GMT+01:00

To: <>

Subject: RE: FW: Parking Costs

Dear XXXXX

Thank you for your email dated 20/09/2011 passed to this team for a response. We write to inform you that due to the nature of the investigation that is being undertaken, it is not possible to provide a full response at this time.

We anticipate completing the investigation and issuing a full response within 5 to 10 working days, however, if this is not possible, we will keep you informed of the progress of the investigation.

We would like to thank you for your patience whilst we attempt to resolve this matter.

We hope this letter has been of some assistance to you.

Yours sincerely

Parking Quality and Customer Service

London Borough of Barnet Council

Planning, Environment & Regeneration

North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South London N11 1NP

Original Text

From:	Parking@barnet.gov.uk
To:	First.Contact@barnet.gov.uk
CC:
Sent:	20.09.11 14:51:46
Subject:	FW: Parking Costs

-----Original Message-----
From: XXXX
Sent: 19 September 2011 20:26
To: Parking
Subject: Parking Costs

Where can I find correct information about residents parking permit
increased costs that came into effect this year. I do not have any
correspondence from the council, nor have I seen any official paperwork
on this matter.

I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

XXXXXXX

2011-08-13T22:54:00.007+01:00

Barnet CPZ Action Update - Saturday 13 August 2011

Legal Proceedings

The legal action continues to progress, albeit slowly. The latest news is that Barnet Council have now submitted in their response to the claim. It contains no surprises, although it does contain one new (or rather modified) argument. Barnet have consistently pointed out that the profitability of the parking service has in recent years declined. However, one thing that they seem reluctant to admit to is that in the last year (2010-2011), the profitability is forecast to increase substantially NB: this is before the new charges came into force). So, Barnet have raised a new argument to get around this inconvenient fact: according to Barnet, it's not that parking revenue is now declining, it's that the cost of highway repairs (and other services that are subsidised with parking money) are getting more expensive. Barnet says that the cost of these other services has increased from £12.6 to £13.6 million and that this justifies raising CPZ charges to raise an additional £1.4 million. But, whereas the increase in the cost other services is around 8%, the CPZ increases are up to 300%. The simple truth is inescapable: a bigger slice than ever before of the cost of road repairs is being paid for by CPZ residents.

Barnet agrees that what we are arguing over is whether it is lawful for a Council to use its powers to set parking charges under the Road Traffic Regulation Act in order to raise money to pay for concessionary fares and road repairs. Barnet says that because the Act lets them spend any parking surplus on concessionary fares and road repairs, it can hike parking charges which are already generating a big surplus in order to have more money to spend on those Borough-wide services.

We say that this is not lawful and that increased parking charges must be justified by a genuine parking related need. For example, an increase in the charges at a car park might be warranted if it is often full with cars queueing up to get in. If that then leads to a profit being generated, you can use that money to fill potholes elsewhere in the borough. But you can't raise charges on a half empty car park because there are potholes that need filling. That must be paid for by the Council Tax.

It sounds like a simple legal point but it is being hotly disputed and Barnet are fielding on the leading public law QCs in the country, James Goudie QC. Its great news therefore than another leading QC, Martin Westgate QC, is acting for David Attfield on a "no win, no fee" basis.

Although David now has solicitors and barristers acting for him under "no win, no fee" agreements, there is still a huge amount to do in terms of fundraising if there is to be sufficient money available to meet Barnet's legal costs should he lose. If you haven't yet done so, please donate what you can either online through our website or by sending a cheque payable to Barnet CPZ Action. If you have made a donation, please consider whether you can give some more.

Another CPZ legal challenge

You may have heard that Barnet recently succeeded in defending another legal challenge to the CPZ increases. That challenge was brought by an individual without the benefit of legal advice. Unfortunately, he failed to make the key point that according to the relevant cases, a hike in parking charges must be justified by a parking related need.

What Mike Freer MP won't tell you

A number of our supporters have received letters from Mike Freer MP about the CPZ charges. In this letter, he tries to reassure his constituents that the new charges are not too bad after all (though he does state that he considers the visitor voucher increase on top of the resident's permit increase to be "too much").

First, Mr Freer confirms that the parking service was in profit before the increases but claims that the surplus "was on a downward trend". He supports this by highlighting an extract from the Council's 2009-2010 budget. But this information is out of date. Barnet Council's current budget (2011-2012) which is on the Council's website shows that the profitability of the parking service is expected to leap by over 50% when the accounts for 2010-2011 are finalised. In other words, the downward trend had been reversed even before the increases.

Mr Freer also points out that the owner of a 1.6 litre petrol Ford Focus pays more for a permit in Westminster and Camden and pays the same in Brent as in Barnet. But he's comparing apples and pears because all three of those local authorities base the cost of a permit on a vehicle's emissions/engine size whereas Barnet charges a flat rate whatever car you have. Substitute a car with lower emissions (a Ford Focus 1.6 Diesel for example) and Barnet is more expensive that Camden or Brent.

In any event, Mr Freer's data is already out of date. The latest 1.6 petrol Ford Focus is more economical than its predecessor meaning that, using Mr Freer's examples, two of the three boroughs are cheaper than Barnet.

Mr Freer then looks at the cost of visitor vouchers and assesses the cost of visitor parking in Barnet with Mayfair of all places. Yes, that's how hard Mr Freer had to look in order to find somewhere in London which is more expensive than Barnet!

Materials:
David Attfield's claim
Barnet Council's response

Barnet CPZ Action Update

2011-07-03T23:14:00.001+01:00

We've great news to report!

A leading QC (Martin Westgate QC) has agreed to represent David Attfield in the legal action on a "no win, no fee"basis. This means that Martin will only be paid if we win the court case.
A firm of specialist solicitors (Anthony Gold Solicitors) has also agreed to act in the case on a "no win, no fee" basis.
The means that David Attfield has managed to secure first rate legal representation at no cost to him or the campaign because, if David wins, the fees of the QC and the solicitors will be paid by Barnet.
This is a huge boost because funding the litigation was our biggest challenge. Whilst much fundraising still needs to be done (to ensure we can pay Barnet's legal costs should David lose the court case), we are confident that we will now be able to pursue the case all the way to trial.


David Attfield

We are still at a very early stage in the legal action and it will be several months at least before the case comes to trial. We will continue to update you as the case develops.

Barnet CPZ Action Update

2011-06-20T21:27:00.006+01:00

Thank you to everyone who visited our stalls at the East Finchley and the High Barnet Festivals on Sunday. We met dozens of supporters new and old and raised over £300 towards the campaign.

The legal proceedings are in a quiet phase at the moment. We are finalising arrangements for a firm of solicitors to take over the running of the case on a "no win, no fee" basis.

As a fall back, we have arranged a Court hearing on 15 July at which we will apply again for a financial cap to be placed on Barnet's legal costs.

Legal Proceedings Update

2011-06-07T08:58:00.010+01:00

A big "thank you" to the 100 people who crowded into the New Local Cafe on 2 June to show their support for the campaign. It was particularly good to see so many parts of the borough represented.

Legal Proceedings Update:

Our barrister (Lindsay Johnson of Doughty Street Chambers) has looked again at the case, particularly in light of Barnet's response setting out how they will defend the claim. He has reconfirmed his advice that we have a strong case:

"I remain of the view that the challenge has prospects in the region of 65-75%.

In light of the stance taken by Barnet, I would have thought that the prospects are

in the upper end of this range"

We also have offers from a number of firms of solicitors willing to act for David Attfield on a "no win, no fee" basis. Lindsay Johnson has also said he would represent David at the trial on a "no win, no fee" basis.
However, this still leaves the problem of how David is to pay Barnet's costs if he loses. Barnet have now stated that their costs are likely to be around £50,000, an extra-ordinary amount of money for a staight forward judicial review action which largely turns on a single point of law . The Public Law Project suggest that is should be possible for Barnet to defend the claim for no more than £20,000.
David Attfield
We are continuing to explore how to protect David Attfield financially should we lose the case. We will also be appealing against the Court's ruling not to set a limit to David's exposure.
In the meantime, please tell the Council, your local councillors and your MP what you think of the CPZ increases. You may know that the council has a new Leader, Councillor Richard Cornelius. He needs to know what the increases mean for you and your family: cllr.r.cornelius@barnet.gov.uk

A WORD OF WARNING

A number of supporters have received incorrect information telling them that the parking service was running at a loss and that CPZs were being subsidised by the council tax. The Council has refused to say who was responsible for this information.

The information is UNTRUE. Barnet's accounts show that Parking has generated multi-million pound surpluses year in, year out for the Council. Indeed, for the past financial year, the Council has forecast a profit from Parking of well over £4 million. Even before the increases, CPZ residents were contributing handsomely to road maintenance and other transport services across the borough.

In the Court case, Barnet have even admitted that Parking was in profit to the tune of millions of pounds. So Barnet are happy for residents to be mislead, but even they won't mislead the Court.

Invitation to Public Meeting: Thursday 2 June

2011-05-29T22:57:00.001+01:00

Barnet CPZ Action

Newsletter No. 6

31 May 2011

As you may know, as part of our legal case we had asked the Court to set a cap on the amount of costs that David Attfield would have to pay to Barnet Council should the legal action fail.

Sadly, we heard on Friday that the Court has declined to set a limit to David’s financial exposure. We also now know that Barnet have retained one of the country’s leading QCs, James Goudie QC, to defend the claim.

We are therefore at a critical stage of the legal action and are exploring a number of ideas for how the action can be continued. We want to share these with you and also seek your views. It’s vital that whatever we do, we have your support.

We are holding a public meeting to discuss the way forward. If you care about CPZ residents (who make up only 10% of the Borough) paying the highest parking charges of any comparable borough, please come!

URGENT PUBLIC MEETING

The New Local Café

42 High Road, N2 9PJ

Thursday 2 June at 8pm

Barnet CPZ Action

www.barnetcpz.blogspot.com

Email: Barnetcpz@gmail.com

Get Barnet to sit up and take notice! Write to your MP about Barnet CPZ charges

2011-05-11T10:20:00.007+01:00

Please write to your Member of Parliament and ask them to call on Barnet to reduce the cost of residents' parking permits and visitor vouchers.

The more letters they get the more likely they are to take up your complaint with the council - so please send your MP a letter or email as soon as you can.

Writing to your MP is a great way to let them know about how the parking charge increases are affecting you and your neighbours.

MPs always reply to letters from constituents and we would be really interested to see what they say!

If you are happy to copy your MP's reply to us, please send it to Barnet CPZ Action at: BarnetCPZ@gmail.com or by post to: Barnet CPZ Action, 88 Summerlee Avenue, East Finchley, London N2 9QH

The letter below can be used by copying it into an email, or you can copy it into a letter for posting. Even better, write your own email or letter saying how you are affected or giving your views on the parking charges. Please make sure you include a request for the MP to ask the council to reduce the charges.

The key requests to make to your MP are that they:

* state they oppose the increases,
* work with the council to reduce the charges so that they
* are more in line with other boroughs
*ask Barnet to give an explanation for why the increases are necessary and why the charges are so high.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FULL LETTER

[model letter]
Dear [your MP's name here] MP

You will be aware that on 18 April Barnet Council imposed the highest increases in parking charges of any London borough.

It is now cheaper to park a VW Polo in Mayfair than it is in Barnet. The cost of residents' parking permits (up from £40 to £100 for the first car), and visitor parking vouchers (up from £1 to £4), are the highest for any outer London borough.

Because Barnet charges a flat rate for residents' permits it is more expensive to park a small family car in Barnet than it is in central London boroughs like Westminster, Islington and Camden which operate banded pricing based on engine size or CO2 emissions. The £4 flat rate for a visitor voucher makes visitor parking in Barnet far more expensive than in any other comporable Borough. Visitor parking in neighbouring Haringey, for example, is charged by the hour, so many visits will only cost residents 30p or 60p.

I am writing to ask you to support your constituents by:

* announcing that you oppose these increases, and;
* working with the council to revise the charges so that they are more in line with other boroughs

In particular I would like you as my MP to ask Barnet to give an explanation for why the increases are necessary and why the charges are so high.

The council has not provided any justification to residents for these extremely steep increases, or the level of the new charges.

The increases are many times higher than inflation at a time when residents are already being financially squeezed. Someone visiting an elderly relative, or grandparents coming to help with the children,
could now be paying £24 a week in visitor vouchers instead of £6.

As my MP, I hope you will take up my concerns and use your position to encourage the council to revise these unreasonable increases.

I look forward to hearing from you.

[Your name and address here - if you don't include your address the MP
will ignore your letter ]
[Date here]

Where to send your letter or email:

Addresses are given below for Barnet's three MPs: Mike Freer MP
(Finchley and Golders Green), Matthew Offord MP (Hendon) and Theresa
Villiers MP (Chipping Barnet).

If you're not sure which one is your MP, you can find out by going to
the House of Commons website via this link:

http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/

Chipping Barnet - Theresa Villiers MP

Theresa Villiers MP, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 6212
theresa.villiers.mp@parliament.uk

Hendon - Matthew Offord MP

Matthew Offord MP, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 7083
matthew.offord.mp@parliament.uk

Finchley and Golders Green - Mike Freer MP

Mike Freer MP, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 7071
mike.freer.mp@parliament.uk

Barnet Council finally respond, and the gloves come off

2011-05-08T21:23:00.001+01:00

Update on the Legal Action

If you've been following our campaign, you will know that we have applied to the Court to set a cap on David Attfield's exposure to Barnet's legal costs in the event he loses. Barnet have finally put in their response to this application. Not surprisingly, they oppose there being any cap on their legal costs. In summary, Barnet's response is as follows (you may think some of their points to be a bit cheap):

1. The case only concerns "a limited number of residents of the Borough of Barnet" and, therefore, is not a case of broad importance. [We of course disagree. In any event, the case concerns everyone in Barnet: i.e it concerns the 90% of residents who are being subsidised and not just the 10% who are doing the subsidising]

2. David is simply opposed to the "extent of spending cuts in Barnet" and his claim is "purely political". His remedy should be the ballot box and not the court.

3. David's case "is solely based on his desire to avoid incurring extra financial expense to park outside his home".

4. Barnet Council have instructed one of the country's leading QCs, James Goudie, despite the fact that they know that David will largely be conducting the action himself.

The court may now take a few weeks to decide whether to cap Banet's costs and, if so, at what level.   It is vital that we then have a big enough fighting fund to carry on with the action. Please, if you support our action, donate what you can now. You can use the Paypal link or send a cheque made payable to Barnet CPZ Action to 88 Summerlee Avenue, East Finchley, London N2 9QH

Barnet CPZ Action issues statement over council's false parking charge claim

2011-04-19T12:48:00.004+01:00

Nick Walkley
Chief Executive
L B Barnet
North London Business Park
Oakleigh Road South
London N11 1NP
Monday 18 April 2011

Dear Mr Walkley

We were concerned to hear on the ITV London Tonight news (15 April) a statement in the name of Barnet Council saying that the increases in parking charges coming into force today are: "in line with other London boroughs".

This statement is false and we would like to ask you formally to ensure that any statements issued by the council are consistent with the facts. It is dishonest for the council to mislead residents by trying to justify the increases in parking charges with false statements.

The statement that Barnet's parking charges are 'in line' with other London boroughs is false whichever way you interpret. the facts. The percentage increase is higher than any other borough. The actual charges are higher than any outer London borough and any borough operating a flat-rate residents permit scheme. They are also higher than for most permits in the inner London boroughs, which offer graduated schemes based on environmental impact.

For instance even in Westminster, residents permits for cars with engines below 1200c are £83 compared with £100 in Barnet. Residents permits for smaller engine cars are more expensive in Barnet than in Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, Camden and Islington.

These councils operate price bands designed to influence the use of higher polluting vehicles, so that a Bentley is charged more than a Mini - Barnet is certainly not 'in line' with them and charges gas guzzlers the same as low emission vehicles.

We are formally asking you to arrange for a public statement to be issued by the council that confirms that the increases and parking permit charges in Barnet are not 'in line' with other London boroughs, and that gives the council's reasons for the increases being imposed today. No proper explanation has been given to residents so far.

A price comparison chart showing parking charges in various London Boroughs can be viewed here.

Yours sincerely,
Philippa Worke Debbie Linron, Diane Johnson Ana Sanchez-Martin, Chris Price,
Peter Cox, Nigel Linton, Ray Bussell, Gez Sagar, David Attfield.

Ham and High latest to cover Barnet CPZ legal action

2011-04-19T12:36:00.002+01:00

Thanks to the Ham and High for writing about our High Court legal action against Barnet Council. Click on the link below to read the full article:

http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/barnet_residents_launch_high_court_action_over_parking_permits_1_866815

Legal proceedings have been issued!

2011-04-13T17:59:00.001+01:00

Legal Proccedings have been isued!
We await a crucial Court decision on whether our exposure to Barnet's legal costs will be capped.

When Barnet Council responded to our letter of claim, they didn't raise anything new to alter our view that the new CPZ parking charges are unlawful. Barnet Council did however threaten to hold David Attfield responsible for any loss of revenue if he asked the court to delay implementation of the increased charges whilst the court case is decided – so understandably he has not done so.

So on Monday 11^th April a group of us went to the High Court with David to submit the papers. Now we have to wait to see if the court agrees that we have a case and for them to decide on our application to limit our liability for Barnet’s costs.

We still need to raise awareness – because Barnet are not sending out notices many people will have no idea this is happening until they receive their permit renewal. So think of anyone you know in the borough and call them – if you do it before Sunday 17^ththey could still get their permits and vouchers at the old price. And ask them to get involved – we still need to raise more money.

Barnet Council promise to respond to our claim on.....April Fool's Day

2011-03-31T09:12:00.002+01:00

Barnet Council ask for more time to respond to our Claim

It's not often that Barnet Council and Brian Coleman are lost for words but our letter of claim seems to have stumped them.

We submitted our letter of claim on 11 March and Court rules dictate that Barnet Council should have responded by Friday the 25th. On the 28th, however, they wrote asking for more time. We've agreed that they can put in their response on 1 April.

Are Barnet Council using the time well to address our claim properly or, better still, to reconsider their position? Or will we get a repeat of the nonsense we have had to date: that we are paying a small price for the privilege of living in a CPZ?

We will soon find out. But as much as ever, we need to keep the pressure up. Please:

Write to your councillor
Print off and display our campaign poster (download it at the "Important Links" tab.
Tell your friends and neighbours about our campaign.
And donate what you can.

Round 1 to Barnet CPZ Action

2011-03-17T23:48:00.000Z

Barnet Council forced to postpone CPZ increases

after we expose defect in legal notice

Yesterday we pointed out to Barnet Council that the legal notice they had published to implement the new CPZ charges was defective.

As a result, the Council have acknowledged that planned increases won't be brought into force on 21 March. Instead the Council have to readvertise the notice and then wait another three weeks (taking us to around 14 April).

Its a small victory of course - the real fight is still to come. But in the meantime, residents have a few more weeks to stock up on vouchers or can renew their permit at the old price if it expires on 1 May.

Legal action about to be lauched - but we need you to help

2011-03-14T10:59:00.000Z

FIGHT THE RISE IN BARNET PARKING CHARGES

Newsletter No 2.

Counsel has advised we have a strong legal case
Sufficient money raised to begin the legal process, but we need more
Take a look at our great campaign poster: http://imapnet.com/barnetcpz/barnet_cpz_flyer.pdf
Please donate what you can. Cheques made payable to "Barnet CPZ Action" can be sent to 88 Summerlee Avenue, East Finchley, London N2 9QH

The campaign has got off to a flying start. Nearly 70 people turned up for the first meeting on 9^th March and by the end of the meeting nearly £3,000 had been donated to the seed fund. David Attfield explained the legal process and implications with great clarity and Nigel Linton ran through the potential costs. Volunteers came forward to help with fundraising, PR, lobbying, publicity and to provide witness statements for the case.

The case is being brought over a single legal challenge: that the council is not empowered to increase the parking charges for the express aim of raising revenue - which is exactly what they appear to have done.

A barrister who specialises in judicial reviews in the public sector has given his legal opinion on the grounds for the challenge and he rates our chances of success at between 65 and 75%, which means he considers we have a very good case.

Briefly, the process and related financial implications are as follows:

Stage 1: a formal notice of legal action was issued to Barnet on Friday. This gives them two weeks to respond or withdraw their plans.

Stage 2: an application will be made to the court to limit our liability for Barnet’s costs to £10,000. Estimated costs for this process are £2,000 – all of this seed funding was raised at the meeting.

Stage 3: if the court grants that limitation, with our costs estimated at £5,000 a fund of £15,000 will be needed to take our claim to court. The claim must be issued by the end of March– that is in the next two weeks and the bulk of this money needs to have been raised or pledged before proceedings are started to ensure that David Attfield is completely financially protected.

120 people donating an average of £100 or 1200 donations of £10 is all we need.

Donations can be made by cheque (payable to “Barnet CPZ Action”) and delivered to No 88 Summerlee Ave, London N2 9QH. A Paypal account will soon be available on the website: http://barnetcpz.blogspot.com . Please ensure that the cheques have your name and address so that the funds can be re-distributed if we win the case.

Please get in touch if think you can help in any way.

Please have a look at our great campaign flyer! Print it, display it, email it! We can also send you printed copies. Just email Barnetcpz@gmail.com
http://imapnet.com/barnetcpz/barnet_cpz_flyer.pdf

Legal proceedings to be issued by the end of the month

2011-03-12T23:21:00.000Z

Countdown to legal action

At a meeting of residents on 9 March, there was unanimous support for bringing legal proceedings to overturn Barnet Council's new CPZ charges (£4 for each visitor voucher!). You can read more about the meeting here:
http://lbbspending.blogspot.com/2011/03/cpz-action

Barnet Council has therefore now been notifed that our claim will be issued by the end of the month.
http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/8904564.CPZ_legal_challenge_likely_to_be_launched_by_end_of_month/?ref=mr

Meanwhile, one of our members has found a really helpful report by the RAC Foundation which sets out clearly what Local Authorities can and cannot when setting parking charges. If you want a clear summary of why Barnet's price hikes are unlawful, read this:

http://www.racfoundation.org/research/mobility/on-street-parking

Is this the most damming evidence yet?

2011-03-08T17:45:00.000Z

Is this the most damming evidence yet? Please read

As many of you will know, our legal case turns on showing that the CPZ increases are designed merely to raise revenue, which is not permitted under the Road Traffic Regulation Act.

We have quite a lot of evidence (internal Barnet council emails, letters to residents and internal budget papers) which I believe shows clearly that what Barnet is doing is shifting as much of the costs of road maintenance away from rate payers and on to CPZ residents. In this regard, the following is I think quite shocking:

As part of its budget for next year Barnet have published a list of cuts that they will make to services which are funded from the general rates fund. Buried in this is the surprising fact that £1.5 million is to be cut from the Highways Maintenance Budget. The following is noted against this huge cut:" Could damage highways infrastructure if money is not reintroduced into the base budget".

But the good residents of barnet need not worry! The roads will be repaired next year because, turn over the page and, hey presto, £1.81 million magically reappears courtesy of the increased CPZ charges which Barnet say is earmarked for spending on roads.

So Barnet's modus operandi is as follows:

· Create a crisis in the Highways Budget by cutting it savagely, saving ratepayers £1.5m

· Solve the crisis by jacking up charges in CPZs and transferring the surplus to the Highways Budget.

· End result: The roads are repaired and the rates are kept down. It’s a win-win (unless of course you are in the tiny minority who need parking permits)

If you'd like to be sent a copy of the budget documentation which shows all this, please email barnetcpz@gmail.com

Campaign launched to overturn Barnet CPZ charges

2011-03-01T22:05:00.000Z

FIGHT THE RISE IN CPZ PARKING CHARGES

Newsletter No 1:- Invitation to legal action meeting on 9 March

The initial campaign against the increased parking charges was well covered in the media and well supported. E.g. http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/

However, we haven’t yet persuaded the council. Contrary to the impression that may have been given on BBC News, the Council cabinet meeting of 24 February was reconvened and the increased charges were approved. They will therefore be in force by 1st April 2011 – only a legal challenge can now stop this.

Our research suggests that we have a strong legal case, so we have instructed a barrister to provide a written legal opinion before we take it further.

We are holding a meeting at 8pm on Wednesday 9^th March 2011 in East Finchley by which time we will have that legal opinion. We will present a plan of action and explain the legal process. A committee will be set up to take it forward and we need you to step forward with your skills and energy. We will also need to establish the level of financial support that we have and plan how to raise funding. If you’d like to attend, please email barnetcpz@gmail.com. and we will email the venue to you

Please tell anyone in your neighbourhood or in Barnet who would be interested in our campaign. If they send their email address to us we can include them on the mailing list.

We have a real chance to overturn the parking rises – but we need your support!

Barnetcpz@gmail.com