Plans to make clamping illegal to be annouced on Tuesday?

[Strangely Brown]

Is it true? I haven't seen it touted anywhere else and a quick search revealed no chat on the matter here.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/7946183/M...

Article said:

On Tuesday the Home Office will announce plans to make it illegal to clamp or tow away a car parked on private property.

Currently, a car can be clamped if it is parked in a pub or supermarket car park or at a block of flats or workplace reserved for permit holders or customers, or if the driver has overstayed the time limit in a public car park.

Clamping companies charge exorbitant fees to unclamp the vehicle or to release it after towing it away.

Such practices will become illegal under the new laws, although powers will be given to the emergency services to remove vehicles that are parked dangerously or causing an obstruction.

[My emphasis]

[eldar]

Catching up with the Scots at last...

[bazking69]

A long overdue piece of leglisation IMO.

[750turbo]

eldar said:

Catching up with the Scots at last...

Stop copying us!!!!

Seriously though, bloody long overdue IMO. I am sure that in the very odd occasion it is justified, but mostly it is just (barely) legalised extortion.

[Jasandjules]

Wow, this is something I really hope is true.

[spaximus]

But playing devils advocate what do you do if this is stopped. At work we have a car park that is regularly parked in by staff from a large Gas company who has insufficent parking for its own staff. This leaves no space for our staff and only the threat of clamping has had any effect on the behaviour of those who transgress.

Now I do not condone the behaviour of clampers as they are clearly some of the less savoury people in the world, but lets say you come home and some one has parked on your drive because they now can park on private property? What redress will you have or action you can take?

We have had similar stories on here where people who have an allocated space to park at their own flat and someone just ignores the signs and parks there, is taking away any punishment the right solution, should it be a flat release fee instead say £25 by law anywhere?

I don't know the answer but a free for all might be a bigger problem for individuals.

[Colin 1985]

spaximus said:

Now I do not condone the behaviour of clampers as they are clearly some of the less savoury people in the world, but lets say you come home and some one has parked on your drive because they now can park on private property? What redress will you have or action you can take?

Finders keepers.

[Rich_W]

spaximus said:

But playing devils advocate what do you do if this is stopped. At work we have a car park that is regularly parked in by staff from a large Gas company who has insufficent parking for its own staff. This leaves no space for our staff and only the threat of clamping has had any effect on the behaviour of those who transgress.

Now I do not condone the behaviour of clampers as they are clearly some of the less savoury people in the world, but lets say you come home and some one has parked on your drive because they now can park on private property? What redress will you have or action you can take?

We have had similar stories on here where people who have an allocated space to park at their own flat and someone just ignores the signs and parks there, is taking away any punishment the right solution, should it be a flat release fee instead say £25 by law anywhere?

I don't know the answer but a free for all might be a bigger problem for individuals.

This. For more or less every reason above! What they need is PROPER regulation with a maximum release fee. Not nothing at all.

[Starfighter]

I was in Seahouses on holiday. The local authority release fee for violations of the pay and display rules in the car parks and on-street parking is £25. I thought about this and think it is about right for the costs involved.

[CommanderJameson]

spaximus said:

But playing devils advocate what do you do if this is stopped. At work we have a car park that is regularly parked in by staff from a large Gas company who has insufficent parking for its own staff. This leaves no space for our staff and only the threat of clamping has had any effect on the behaviour of those who transgress.

Now I do not condone the behaviour of clampers as they are clearly some of the less savoury people in the world, but lets say you come home and some one has parked on your drive because they now can park on private property? What redress will you have or action you can take?

We have had similar stories on here where people who have an allocated space to park at their own flat and someone just ignores the signs and parks there, is taking away any punishment the right solution, should it be a flat release fee instead say £25 by law anywhere?

I don't know the answer but a free for all might be a bigger problem for individuals.

Block 'em in. Go on holiday.

That'll learn 'em.

[freecar]

Rich_W said:

spaximus said:

But playing devils advocate what do you do if this is stopped. At work we have a car park that is regularly parked in by staff from a large Gas company who has insufficent parking for its own staff. This leaves no space for our staff and only the threat of clamping has had any effect on the behaviour of those who transgress.

Now I do not condone the behaviour of clampers as they are clearly some of the less savoury people in the world, but lets say you come home and some one has parked on your drive because they now can park on private property? What redress will you have or action you can take?

We have had similar stories on here where people who have an allocated space to park at their own flat and someone just ignores the signs and parks there, is taking away any punishment the right solution, should it be a flat release fee instead say £25 by law anywhere?

I don't know the answer but a free for all might be a bigger problem for individuals.

This. For more or less every reason above! What they need is PROPER regulation with a maximum release fee. Not nothing at all.

Immobilising a vehicle is no way to ensure you can keep the space free. The driveway example is complete bks as it doesn't happen often enough for homeowners to purchase a clamp and police it I bet.

Owners of private carparks would just need to amend their sign to say,

"This car park is reserved for the employees of splaff & co, any unauthorised cars parking here are liable to a fee of £35 per day"

Then enforce it with a picture and dvla addy request. Enough people are scared of the unenforcable private ones now that pay up without question. Make it legal provided there are signs and photographs of the infraction and a maximumm fee of say £35.

[FunkyNige]

Rich_W said:

spaximus said:

stuff

This. For more or less every reason above! What they need is PROPER regulation with a maximum release fee. Not nothing at all.

I agree with the above... Banning clamping and towing away will lead to a free for all, surely? My work is an industrial estate near a railway station, if clamping is banned what can we do to stop people parking in our car park short of a guy with a barrier? We all know threatening letters can be ignored.

[NoNeed]

spaximus said:

Now I do not condone the behaviour of clampers as they are clearly some of the less savoury people in the world, but lets say you come home and some one has parked on your drive because they now can park on private property? What redress will you have or action you can take?

There isn't anything you can do now, so this law changes nothing on that scenario

[NoNeed]

But I do suspect parking tickets will be more expensive

[Nickyboy]

spaximus said:

But playing devils advocate what do you do if this is stopped. At work we have a car park that is regularly parked in by staff from a large Gas company who has insufficent parking for its own staff. This leaves no space for our staff and only the threat of clamping has had any effect on the behaviour of those who transgress.

Now I do not condone the behaviour of clampers as they are clearly some of the less savoury people in the world, but lets say you come home and some one has parked on your drive because they now can park on private property? What redress will you have or action you can take?

We have had similar stories on here where people who have an allocated space to park at their own flat and someone just ignores the signs and parks there, is taking away any punishment the right solution, should it be a flat release fee instead say £25 by law anywhere?

I don't know the answer but a free for all might be a bigger problem for individuals.

Take a leaf from a company i deliver to reguarly, similar story, another company on the estate has not enough spaces for their staff so park in spaces/entrance to loading bay of company i go to. They respond by sticking A4 sized sticker on windscreen stating they are parked on private property, takes a good 15 mins to scrape said sticker off. Does the trick however, not seen a repeat offender

[Robb F]

Lets just ask someone from Scotland how they deal with rouge parking without clamping. They've been doing it for long enough and as far as i'm aware it isn't a free-for-all

[DangerousMike]

put a barrier on your car park, simple..

[Hedders]

all you need is a camera and a sign that reads "PARKING- £500 per hour, One hour minimum charge."

That way you're not sending them a fine, but an invoice for services rendered.

That should work, no?

[herewego]

freecar said:

Rich_W said:

spaximus said:

But playing devils advocate what do you do if this is stopped. At work we have a car park that is regularly parked in by staff from a large Gas company who has insufficent parking for its own staff. This leaves no space for our staff and only the threat of clamping has had any effect on the behaviour of those who transgress.

Now I do not condone the behaviour of clampers as they are clearly some of the less savoury people in the world, but lets say you come home and some one has parked on your drive because they now can park on private property? What redress will you have or action you can take?

We have had similar stories on here where people who have an allocated space to park at their own flat and someone just ignores the signs and parks there, is taking away any punishment the right solution, should it be a flat release fee instead say £25 by law anywhere?

I don't know the answer but a free for all might be a bigger problem for individuals.

This. For more or less every reason above! What they need is PROPER regulation with a maximum release fee. Not nothing at all.

Immobilising a vehicle is no way to ensure you can keep the space free. The driveway example is complete bks as it doesn't happen often enough for homeowners to purchase a clamp and police it I bet.

Owners of private carparks would just need to amend their sign to say,

"This car park is reserved for the employees of splaff & co, any unauthorised cars parking here are liable to a fee of £35 per day"

Then enforce it with a picture and dvla addy request. Enough people are scared of the unenforcable private ones now that pay up without question. Make it legal provided there are signs and photographs of the infraction and a maximumm fee of say £35.

They'll need to change the law so that landowners can charge RKs in the same way that LAs can. The charge will need to be large to make this viable so say £35 for a quick sale and £70 if ignored or contested.

[freecar]

herewego said:

freecar said:

Rich_W said:

spaximus said:

But playing devils advocate what do you do if this is stopped. At work we have a car park that is regularly parked in by staff from a large Gas company who has insufficent parking for its own staff. This leaves no space for our staff and only the threat of clamping has had any effect on the behaviour of those who transgress.

Now I do not condone the behaviour of clampers as they are clearly some of the less savoury people in the world, but lets say you come home and some one has parked on your drive because they now can park on private property? What redress will you have or action you can take?

We have had similar stories on here where people who have an allocated space to park at their own flat and someone just ignores the signs and parks there, is taking away any punishment the right solution, should it be a flat release fee instead say £25 by law anywhere?

I don't know the answer but a free for all might be a bigger problem for individuals.

This. For more or less every reason above! What they need is PROPER regulation with a maximum release fee. Not nothing at all.

Immobilising a vehicle is no way to ensure you can keep the space free. The driveway example is complete bks as it doesn't happen often enough for homeowners to purchase a clamp and police it I bet.

Owners of private carparks would just need to amend their sign to say,

"This car park is reserved for the employees of splaff & co, any unauthorised cars parking here are liable to a fee of £35 per day"

Then enforce it with a picture and dvla addy request. Enough people are scared of the unenforcable private ones now that pay up without question. Make it legal provided there are signs and photographs of the infraction and a maximumm fee of say £35.

They'll need to change the law so that landowners can charge RKs in the same way that LAs can. The charge will need to be large to make this viable so say £35 for a quick sale and £70 if ignored or contested.

Agreed, could be dealt with in the small claims court for an appeal. No photo of car in space, no sale!