Again here we are discussing the most hated and controversial move by Medway Council.

The ‘despicable’ Mobile CCTV vehicle that haunts Medway and Targets our drivers.

It makes me sick to the stomach that the Tory led Medway Council have still backed the use of the mobile CCTV here in Medway.

Whilst it appears in the newspapers week in week out , some would have thought there would have been a complete revision of the use of this vehicle.

Never mind the occupants rude and damn right disrespectful way they speak to the residents.

Whilst attending a meeting last night I had been informed that the drivers of the said CCTV car have been rather abusive towards residents who have asked for information regarding ‘what is being filmed’.

In one instance a Gillingham resident approached the CCTV and asked why the vehicle had been parked on double yellow line’s.

The driver of the vehicle ‘claimed’ that they were in fact filming , the resident then went on to point out that there were actually no vehicles around at the time and questioned the driver yet again.

We have been informed by the resident that the driver of the CCTV (and lets not forget a representative of Medway Council) car then told the resident; ” it doesn’t matter where we park, its you that we will be looking for and it's you that will get a ticket".

Lord help me if a representative of Medway council ever spoke to me this way!

Our meeting last night about the vehicle came up with some very interesting points and I'm more than happy with the response from Medway residents about this matter.

Clearly there are rules in place for the use of this kind of service.

We are fully aware of the routes which this CCTV car takes and understand that surely there must be signs in place making people aware of the fact that CCTV is in operation.

We also noted that the CCTV car has in fact been so far as Hoo St Werburgh in Rochester, where by the way there are no signs of the sort informing drivers that this is in operation.

As the English Democrats Parliamentary candidate I will be fighting the very existence of this ridiculous mobile CCTV vehicle and intend to fight this until the day it no longer targets the people of Medway.

I have many concerns regarding this mobile CCTV car and the monies it has generated for Medway Council over the last year.

On information received by Medway council we can confirm that the amount of PCN’s (Penalty charge notice) issued by the CCTV Device Vehicle from the 1st April 2009 to date is a staggering 13,462.

And already since the 1st April 2009 this scandalous CCTV vehicle has generated a ridiculous £413,306.56 in revenue.

This figure really overshadows the freeze on charges for parking in Medway which is in place until 2012, a shrewd attempt to make themselves look sympathetic to the car user in Medway whilst hunting them down with the CCTV car.

For your benefit i have listen the location of camera enforcement signs in Medway; Beechings way Cuxton Rd Brompton farm road Danes Hill Brompton Road/Prince Arthur road Dock road Canterbury Street Esplande Chatham Hill Frindsbury Hill City Way Gads Hill City way, chatham Gillingham Rd City way, Delce road Gun Lane Corporation Street Hawser Rd High st Rainham High Street Rochester High St strood Holywood Lane Ingram Rd Cavendish Av London Rd Maidstone Rd Maidstone Rd Borstal Maidstone Rd Chatham Mooring Rd New Rd Pier Rd Prince Arthur Road/Brompton Rd Rainham Road Sauders St Soloman Rd Star Hill Station Rd Rainham Street End Rd The Brood Victoria Street Watling Street.

If you know of any we may have missed please let us know ,as this information is direct from Medway Council.

Also if you see the mobile CCTV car in an area which does not have any signs again please let me know straight away.

So with all that to take in, maybe now is a good time to ask the Labour MP Paul Clark and the Tory candidate Reh Chishti what exactly they plan to do for you the driver.

Mind you be aware, these two parties are ‘whipped’, thus meaning they cannot actually change any policy because they are bound to national policies, you may feel as if you are wasting your time.

Guess what, you will be! This is just one of the things i will be challenging given the opportunity in this years General Election and for a long time afterwards so please get involved and help me get a fair Deal for Drivers. 

A mobile CCTV smart car will cost £1,525 per month on a three year lease agreement, this cost would be off set against the income generated from the PCN issue and it is anticipated that in addition to this the mobile CCTV unit will also generate surplus income for the Council.

Estimated calculations show this to be approximately £50,000. 4.8 Additional staff members will be required to operate both static and mobile CCTV units, there will also be a need for an additional admin resource to process the notices and appeals that would be generated from this area of enforcement, a total of two additional staff members would be required at a cost of £40,000.

The initial financial outlay would be as follows: CCTV Units Lease and running cost of CCTV vehicle £20,000 (pa) 2 Additional Staff Members £40,000 (pa) CCTV Training £7,800 Static CCTV unit unknown at this stage Total Cost £67,800

I was very interested in your comments re the CCTV Spy-car as I live in Holmside, Gillingham and that car has been in our road over the last few weeks taking pictures of residents and non-residents parking near the island at the top end of Holmside near Watling Street. 

I have received two PCN's so far and so have most of my neighbours which we are NOT going to pay.  We have lived in this road for over 10 years and never had these PCN's issued before.  Apparently you are "double parking" if you park on or near the island in Holmside.  This island and the surrounding area is alway being used by residents to park due to the fact that there is insufficient space to park at night or day.  This is due to the shops, doctors, other people using Holmside to park in because their roads are also too busy eg. Malvern Road  and people who work in businesses on Watling Street.  There are no signs to state that parking is not allowed in this area and there are no double yellow lines either.  This area has always been used as extra parking space and only yesterday a police vehicle parked there too!!  I have photographic evidence of this.

I have today received confirmation that they will not cancel the two PCN charges so have decided to start a petition in Holmside which I will then return to them for further confirmation that we will not be paying  the PCN's issued.  Everyone of my neighbours I have spoken to today confirmed they will not pay the PCN's.  They need to put signs up stating the exact parking restrictions and cancel all those PCN's issued todate and start afresh knowing that all residents and non-residents know exactly where they can or cannot park!!!!

 

As a resident and frequent driver in Medway I am surpised by the ignorance of the majority of law abiding citezens in your view.

For someone who is hoping to get votes i would have expected that you would realise the majority of driveers are fed up ith the obnoxious minority who believe it is their god given right to drive how they like, after drinking as much as they like, and park where they like with no regard for anyone else's safety or use of the roads.

We welcome more enforcement, and although we wish it was police who could take a mature decision a CCTV van is the next best thing. If they were sat outside someones house its probably as they have solid evidence that person is consistantly breaking the law as they wont want to waste their time when they could be catching other people.

Having been hit by an uninsured, disqualified, drunk driver (luckily it was my car not a child) I welcome more enforcement, and cant wait for it to be proved a success and rolld out accross Kent.

Remember ALL the people caught HAVE BROKE THE LAW that is there for the benefit and safety of us all.

Whilst i understand your views about the enforcement i must stress that the vehicle has not been used for the purpose it was designed for. Many of the PCNs issued have not been upheld in court and in fact many of the actions of the said vehicle have been dangerous, ie parking on junctions behind larger vehicles and so on.

I fully support road safety and enforcement for rule breaking however i do not support (like a great number of residents) the way this vehicle is operated no its very poor example of road safety.

it is shocking the pure amount of close calls this vehicle has had with pedestrians, It is operating in areas which does not have the correct road signs ( in legislation) and is targeting people who have every right to park in areas which are incorrectly sign posted. Back in January Medway council lost a parking tribunal because they had (very sneakly) replaced a parking sign- they were caught out- simple as that, If they have introduced a service for the benefit of us residents and for safety reasons they must act accordingly, set good examples and re-invest any fines back into the roads in Medway, not create another budget for the repairing of roads.

by allowing this vehicle to park illegally and giving it the freedom of Medway is like telling the police;

 " you must arrest anyone committing a crime, but you can commit as many as you like"

Medway council have set a very poor standard.