Residents increasingly being caught out by the new system

Residents in the Ealing borough part of Chiswick have complained that they have received PCNs for parking in the area after forgetting to renew their CPZ permits.

A new system has been introduced and those with accounts are now expected to renew parking permits online. However, those hit with fines are saying they received no reminder and were only aware of it expiry when they received a parking ticket.

Ealing Council say, ''It is the permit holder's responsibility to renew their parking permit before their current permit is due to expire. You may be liable to receive a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) if you park in a permit holders' space and your permit has been expired for more than seven days.''

Renewal notifications aren't being sent out however and many people are now getting caught out by the system.

The Council used to send letters reminding local people to renew but has now discontinued this practice. Some residents received email reminders, but not all.

One reader said they had been issued with a PCN (which they are appealing) because for the first time in fifteen years they had forgotten to renew their permit on time, having not received a reminder.

Another resident said: "There is growing annoyance in the way the council is treating car owners. The council has an unhelpful and uncaring attitude. Their IT systems can be (and have been) changed and it is up us, borough residents, to make the council treat us with more consideration and fairness. The council is being harsh, unreasonable and antagonistic."

Another reader summed up the confusion by saying, "If you don't have a paper permit showing an expiry date or a reminder/invoice of some type it's really easy to fall through the gaps."

Other residents have pointed out that parking attendants could give a residents notification that their permit was due to expire.

An Ealing Council spokesperson said: “The quickest and easiest way to check the status of your permit is to go online at the council’s website and log in into your account. Here you can check the expiry date and renew, which takes a matter of minutes.

“As a courtesy we do aim to email a reminder to customers 28 days before their permits are due to expire. However, we encourage all customers to log on to their account to review and renew well in advance of expiry to avoid any chance of receiving penalty charge.”

September 15, 2019