Local authority wins first Court of Appeal case on controlled parking zones
Sunderland City Council has won a Court of Appeal challenge to the validity of one of its controlled parking zones.
This was the first time the court had been asked to rule on the validity of a CPZ, in a case that had been through two parking adjudicators and the High Court.
Neil Herron, a campaigner against parking restrictions, had sought judicial review of the adjudicators’ rejection of his case that a CPZ was invalid because it was not properly signposted.
He asked the appeal judges to overturn Mr Justice Bean’s rejection of his argument for judicial review.
But in his judgement, Lord Justice Stanley Burton said it was wrong to argue that an entire CPZ was invalid simply because a sign might not be displayed in a particular place.
He said regulations did not require that every part of every street to be signed in the specified manner.
“The fact that there are road signs regulating parking, and in particular those at pedestrian crossings, that are not referred to in regulation 4 [of the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002] renders it impossible to read it as requiring the specified signage in every part of every road,” he said.
“It does not follow from the fact that the form, size, colour and content of all road signs are tightly specified that the definition of a CPZ is to be so strictly construed as to read in words that are not there.”
James Blackburn, the attractive and inclusive city portfolio holder for Sunderland City Council, said: “This once again confirms that Sunderland’s Controlled Parking Zone is lawful.
“We are satisfied that in dismissing the appeal, Lord Justice Burnton agreed with an earlier ruling that the ‘irregularities’ in the Sunderland CPZ pointed out by Mr Herron were ‘trivialities that could not mislead a driver’.
“The city council has always believed Sunderland's parking rules to be 'firm but fair'.”
Mark Smulian
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Sunderland City Council has won a Court of Appeal challenge to the validity of one of its controlled parking zones.
This was the first time the court had been asked to rule on the validity of a CPZ, in a case that had been through two parking adjudicators and the High Court.
Neil Herron, a campaigner against parking restrictions, had sought judicial review of the adjudicators’ rejection of his case that a CPZ was invalid because it was not properly signposted.
He asked the appeal judges to overturn Mr Justice Bean’s rejection of his argument for judicial review.
But in his judgement, Lord Justice Stanley Burton said it was wrong to argue that an entire CPZ was invalid simply because a sign might not be displayed in a particular place.
He said regulations did not require that every part of every street to be signed in the specified manner.
“The fact that there are road signs regulating parking, and in particular those at pedestrian crossings, that are not referred to in regulation 4 [of the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002] renders it impossible to read it as requiring the specified signage in every part of every road,” he said.
“It does not follow from the fact that the form, size, colour and content of all road signs are tightly specified that the definition of a CPZ is to be so strictly construed as to read in words that are not there.”
James Blackburn, the attractive and inclusive city portfolio holder for Sunderland City Council, said: “This once again confirms that Sunderland’s Controlled Parking Zone is lawful.
“We are satisfied that in dismissing the appeal, Lord Justice Burnton agreed with an earlier ruling that the ‘irregularities’ in the Sunderland CPZ pointed out by Mr Herron were ‘trivialities that could not mislead a driver’.
“The city council has always believed Sunderland's parking rules to be 'firm but fair'.”
Mark Smulian
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