31/3/2008

Local News in Fleet

Fines campaign victory delights town’s traders

Traders have said a big thank-you to a campaigner who helped prove parking tickets given to more than 6,000 drivers are illegal.

News that a national adjudicator has ruled parking restrictions in Fleet town centre cannot be enforced was revealed in the News.

The adjudicator concluded that the difference between what is required and what has actually been painted on the road is so great that the bays in Fleet Road cannot be enforced.

The decision has delighted traders in the town, who got together and signed a framed copy of the News article for Peter Ashford.

Mr Ashford worked tirelessly for 18 months to have the parking signs in Fleet Road reviewed so that drivers can understand the restrictions.

He argued that since its implementation, it has been obvious to everyone that the signs caused confusion and were causing thousands of people to get undeserved parking tickets.

Around 30 traders signed Mr Ashford’s framed souvenir of a job well done in forcing the council to accept that their parking bays were not legal — as he has repeatedly told them.

Among those who put his name to the souvenir was Fleet Business Partnership chairman Kevin Whibley, who has seen hundreds of drivers fined for parking outside his Captured Moment Photography shop in Fleet Road.

He said: “We have never wanted to get into a battle with the council on this issue and have offered on so many occasions to work with them to find a solution that suited everybody and was clearly understood by all.

“Hart District Council has always maintained that its direction from Hampshire County Council was sound in law and has refused to budge.

“At last now Hart District Council has the ammunition to force the county council to change its mind and I hope it now uses this.”

Mr Whibley said negotiations over the last 18 months had been “fruitless”.

He added: “I personally warned Geoff Hislop, Hart’s parking manager, and his superiors in an email when the signs first went up that this situation would bite them on the bottom. I am sad to say it has, and the teeth are going in deeper all the time.

“This situation could have been avoided 18 months ago if serious consultation was entered into and not just lip service.

“However, I now see this as a positive step forward for Fleet and I look forward to seeing new signage and clearer road markings that are understood by all.”

Cllr Sharyn Wheale, who represents Fleet on Hampshire County Council, said: “There is no doubt that the wording on the signs in the parking bays is very confusing.

“I have been pushing the county council to produce new signs which would be clearer and easier to understand.

“The regulation of road signage is the responsibility of the Department for Transport and I believe they are to be amended in the near future.

“This will then enable Hampshire County Council to change the wording. I will be asking the county council to do this as a matter of urgency.

“Regarding the present legality of the signs, Hampshire County Council has informed me that they are legal and in accordance with the adjudicator’s decision.

“It says the white lines will be amended as soon as possible to comply with the traffic order and enable them to be enforced by Hart District Council.”

First printed in: Fleet News and Mail