North Somerset Council confident of winning High Court battle over Clevedon parking charges
Parking charges remain in place as court judgement is awaited
North Somerset Council is confident that its parking charges will not be overturned by the High Court.
A local businessman launched a statutory review after the council gave out the wrong reference number when it consulted on its plans to charge in three town centre car parks in Clevedon. The charges came into force on July 1 — despite the court hearing being scheduled for later that month.
Now the council member responsible for parking charges, Mark Canniford (Weston-super-Mare Hillside, Liberal Democrat), has insisted: “We do not feel we will lose the case.”
He was responding to the leader of the Conservative opposition on the council Michael Pryke (Clevedon Walton) who asked why the council had continued with the charges despite the court case being just four weeks away. Although the hearing has now taken place, the judgement will be handed down in writing at a later date which could be months away.
Mr Canniford said the council had received advice that it was well within its position to do what it did. He said: “The equipment that we bought will be reused if the case was lost and therefore no cost to this council. The discussion has been had to make sure we are in a solid position and I feel we are.”
Mr Pryke said: “If the council was to lose the case, would you be stopping charging immediately and, as such, would fines incurred during that period … not be paid?” Mr Canniford said: “If we actually lost the case we would then take legal advice on those questions you have asked.”
The council cabinet voted in 2024 that it would introduce parking charges to Clevedon, Nailsea, and Portishead. Clevedon West councillor Luke Smith (also Conservative) said the charges were “largely failing”.
He said: “It’s common knowledge now that at least one business has shut in Nailsea due to parking charges, with many others struggling. Great Western Road East and West, two of Clevedon’s central car parks, are now largely empty since charges have been introduced.”
Mr Canniford insisted: “Not all businesses are finding the same thing. .. The residents I have spoken to using Nailsea think it is absolutely fantastic value for money.”
Daniel Adams, who runs Stationery House on the Triangle, self-funded the legal challenge over the car parks in Clevedon and represented himself at the High Court hearing sitting at Bristol Civic Justice Centre.
He had submitted two objections to the council’s plans during the legally-mandated consultation but — due to the incorrect reference number being advertised by the council — the council accidentally recorded them as objections to a different consultation instead. Mr Adams told the court: “The defendant clearly did not consider them at the time they were submitted because, had they been, this mistake by the defendant would have been raised at the time.”
North Somerset Council’s barrister Timothy Baldwin accepted the council had breached its obligation to “conscientiously consider” the objections. He said the council “regretted” this but added: “Aside from that administrative problem, my submission is: there has been clear compliance with the regulations.”
It was not the only legal challenge the council has faced over parking charges in Clevedon. The council had also planned to bring in on-street parking charges in Hill Road and the surrounding area but backed down in April after Clevedon Town Council threatened legal action. North Somerset Council leader Mike Bell (Weston-super-Mare Central, Liberal Democrat) said that the two councils ending up in court would be “a scandalous waste of public money”.