With Christmas just two sleeps away, we’re all feeling very festive here at the NEPP and wanted to take this opportunity to wish all of you a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
Keep safe and enjoy the celebrations and as it’s a very busy time of year on the roads you may find the following local travel news and advice useful over the coming weeks:
With another Bank Holiday just around the corner, I thought I’d share some information about Bank Holidays and parking and waiting restrictions with you all.
At the NEPP we often get a lot of enquiries from members of the public wanting to know if waiting and parking restrictions apply on a Bank Holiday and many people presume that they don’t apply. However, most parking and waiting restrictions do apply on bank holidays as these are some of the busiest days on the roads and there is still a duty to manage the highways and ensure that roads and car parks are safe and free from congestion. If a parking or waiting restriction does not apply on a Bank Holiday then this will always be clearly signposted.
The other thing to be aware of at this time of year is seasonal parking and waiting restrictions. These are usually found in places which require more parking management during the peak season, such as tourist hot spots. Where these restrictions apply, signs detailing the dates they apply to (like the example below) will exist.
Please check all the signage before parking or you might return to your car after a lovely day out and find you’ve been issued with a Penalty Charge Notice for parking illegally which I’m sure none of you want.
I hope you’ve all found this useful and have a great bank holiday!
P.S – You may find some of my other posts about Seasonal restrictions and Bank Holidays listed below useful too.
Bank Holidays – just another day?
The sun is shining, the daffodils are out and I’ve even spotted a few bunnies over the past week so all the signs of spring are here in the lead up to the Easter weekend. I suspect many of you are looking forward to having a four day weekend and have plans to go out and/or have friends and family coming to stay. To make sure that neither you nor your guests are caught out with a parking ticket, I thought I’d use this week’s post to remind you about bank holiday parking.
It could be very easy to think that on bank holidays parking restrictions may not apply, or may be relaxed; but in most cases they aren’t. There is still a duty to manage the highway, and bank holidays are no exception, especially as they’re often the busiest time on our roads. Most parking restrictions are not relaxed on bank or public holidays and the same rules apply as on any other Monday. Restrictions always apply on bank and public holidays unless signs specifically indicate that they do not. Exceptions are always signposted, so please don’t get caught out!
Some seasonal parking restrictions (such as the below) are also likely to come into force this weekend too.
There are also lots of events taking place across North Essex over the Easter weekend so the roads and car parks will be busy. If you’re travelling by car in Colchester, please be aware that Brook Street is closed (and will be over the Bank Holiday) whilst Essex County Council works take place. Information about other roadwork schemes taking place across Essex and live travel information is available from Essex County Council’s Highway’s Service Information Centre.
Thanks to everyone who took part in last week’s seasonal parking restriction activity – it’s been my most popular poll yet!
The sign above is informing motorists that ‘No waiting’ (or parking) is permitted from 8.00am to 6.00pm during the period 1 April – 30 November. Parking on a ‘No waiting’ restriction is only permitted for blue badge holders clearly displaying their blue badge and accompanying clock (for a maximum of 3 hours) or for loading or unloading to take place. Based on this, the correct answers to last week’s poll are as follows:
You could be issued with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) if you parked where this sign appears and were:
You would not receive a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) if you parked where this sign appears if you were:
All of the scenarios above are fictional, however if you were to receive a PCN for being parked where a seasonal restriction is in force and you wanted to appeal against it, written appeals can be made to the North Essex Parking Partnership. The particular circumstances of the case and any supporting evidence will be considered and the decision to either uphold and allow the appeal will be made. Further information about the appeal process can be found here.
I hope you’ve all found this really helpful and remember to keep your eyes peeled for seasonal restrictions and what they mean before you park.
With spring on the horizon many seasonal restrictions will come into force over the coming weeks and months. Seasonal restrictions are often found in places that attract a large number of visitors (and cars!) between spring and early winter and exist to control parking and help keep the roads safe and accessible during these busy periods. Many local places (particularly coastal areas such as West Mersea, Frinton-on-Sea and Clacton-on-Sea) have these types of restrictions and the dates and times for these restrictions will vary according to the locality.
The seasonal restriction sign below appears in West Mersea and this week I thought I’d find out when you think you could be issued with a Penalty Charge Notice if you parked where this sign appears (there might be more than one correct answer).
This poll will be live all week and I’ll post the correct answer(s) next week so don’t forget to come back and see the results.
With Christmas just four days away, we’re all feeling very festive here at the NEPP and wanted to take this opportunity to wish all of you a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year – we’ve even come up with a Christmas parking song for you this year:
“With Christmas time being oh so near
And noting the signs indicating don’t park here
We hope you have a happy Christmas and New Year
But please don’t drive after drinking beer”
Keep safe and enjoy the celebrations and as it’s a very busy time of year on the roads you may find the following local travel news and advice useful over the coming weeks:
BBC Essex Travel
Essex Highways – Winter Travel
Essex Police – Winter Driving
…spending time with friends and family. With Christmas next week I’m sure many of you have plans to visit or will be visited by your friends and families over the festive period. For me spending time with your loved ones and getting everyone together is one of the highlights of Christmas.
For those of you visiting friends and family who live in a residents parking zone and are planning to drive there you will need a visitors parking permit (if you’re unable to park your vehicle outside of that zone). Residents who live in these zones can buy virtual visitor permits via the MiPermit system or may have paper visitor permits which their visitors can display in their windscreens. Residents choosing to buy the virtual permits over paper permits will save money too with 10 virtual visitor permits costing £10 as opposed to 10 paper visitor permits costing £15.
Visitor permits can be bought by residents via their MiPermit accounts or by ringing the NEPP office on 01206 282316. If residents who live in these areas aren’t sure how many visitor permits they’ll need over the Christmas and New Year period, I would suggest it’s better to have too many than too few as not being able to obtain a visitor permit or running out of visitor permits are not valid reasons for cancelling Penalty Charge Notices, plus, unused visitor permits don’t have an expiry date so they can be used in the future.
Most of the residents parking schemes across North Essex are located in built-up areas where there are often car parks nearby should visitors wish to park there instead. Car parks across North Essex which are managed by the NEPP are free of charge on Christmas Day and most have some great parking deals on over the winter months too.
If you have any queries about parking permits, please visit our website or contact my colleagues by emailing parking@colchester.gov.uk or phoning 01206 282316, who will be happy to help.
