Letters To Cobh Edition – Fine from over-zealous parking warden, rejected on appeal

It is apparent to anyone interested that Cobh town’s businesses are an endangered species. As such, one would think that the Council would do all in their power to make the town an attractive destination for local consumers. Not so! Not alone has Cobh introduced pay parking when its competing towns remain free, but it now seems that the Council are actively pursuing anti-family parking enforcement.

My wife was driving through Cobh shortly before Christmas with our two children in the back when our three year old wrestled his way out of his child seat straps and tangled them up (I’m sure the parents reading this will have seen this before!). As parents are legally required to ensure their children are fully secured in car seats, she tried to pull in somewhere to sort out his seat. She could find no vacant parking space and, with our new baby also screaming in the back, she eventually pulled in to the loading bay outside Centra on West Beach. She got our son out of the car, sorted out his seat, strapped him in again and went on her way. She did not go into the Centra or any other premises and was there for a maximum of two minutes. I am sure your readers will understand that this quick stop, necessitated by safety, could hardly be classed as ‘parking’. Yet, lo and behold, a few days later she got notice of a €40 fine in the post for “unlawful parking” in a loading bay. The ticket also claimed that she ‘drove away, perhaps giving the impression that she sped away while the warden was trying to affix the fine to the car. The reality is that the warden never approached her, nor was she even aware of his presence. No attempt was made to give her a ticket, or even to simply ask her to leave the space. That this “man” did not even have time to give her the ticket surely indicates how brief her stop was!

We appealed the fine to Cobh Town Council and have today received notice that our appeal was rejected by the council. What sort of people are our taxes paying to run this town? Why do they wish to drive families away from Cobh town centre? To our regret, our family has often tended to do our non-food shopping in Mahon Point etc and are always saying we must try to shop in Cobh more. After this incident, I think we will be sticking with Mahon, Douglas etc, where the parking is free and there is no chance of receiving a fine from an over-zealous parking warden trying to reach his quota by fining stressed mothers and screaming children! I feel real pity for the Cobh business owners who are paying over large sums of money to Cobh Town Council who in turn are chasing their customers away!

As an aside to this story, I would like to bring an important point to your readers’ attention. The ticket to my wife was sent by regular post. This contravenes Article 59 of the Cobh (Traffic and Parking) Bye Law 2008 which requires tickets to be sent by registered post or delivered in person by a Council agent. Where a fine remains unpaid and Cobh Town Council refer the matter to the court, your readers should note that the proceedings will be struck out and no fine will have to be paid if the Council cannot provide proof of delivery (i.e. registered post) and the car owner claims not to have received the ticket by post. Cobh car parkers should ensure they carefully check their post for fines as if the ticket was to “go missing” in the regular mail, they will not have to pay the fine, thus depriving our hard working Council and traffic warden of income!

Authors Name & Address with Cobh Edition