Despite the original poster being at pains to say that the issue here isn’t Grove Park traffic restrictions but the duty of care a local authority might have to people who it is demanding money from, some people are so blinkered they are unable to see the wider picture.Paul Campbell can perhaps be forgiven because he is like an excited puppy when he gets to use the word ‘motornormativity’ and John Hall seems to have swung from a basic lack of common empathy to accusing everyone using a motorised vehicle of injuring children.They don’t want people to talk about Hounslow Council’s use of bailiffs because they see in it an implied criticism of LTNs but it should be perfectly possible to enforce restrictions in a less irresponsible way. The borough has clearly lost sight of the original purpose of these schemes and now sees them as playing a role in revenue maximisation and damn the consequences.The majority of people getting fines and ending up with bailiffs at their door will be people on low incomes particularly gig economy workers. Before Covid, a 20-year-old moped delivery rider called Jerome Rogers took his own life after bailiffs working on behalf of Camden Council confiscated his bike. He had not paid two parking tickets. Without the ability to earn an income his debts built up and he took his own life. He had no history of mental health problems.Like most delivery riders, Jerome probably didn’t have a good knowledge of the Highway Code because he wasn’t making enough to take and pass his test. Mr Hall might like to ponder than next time his falafel arrives from Deliveroo.After Jerome’s death various charities called for more regulation to protect people from bailiffs and a code of practice for local authorities in chasing up debts. Nothing appears to have been done. With councils under intense pressure financially, they have ramped up attempts to maximise incomes from fines and Hounslow Council appears to be particularly aggressive in this regard.It is out of the question that Hounslow Council, given the industrial scale on which they are instructing bailiffs to act, could be exercising any duty of care towards the people who they are chasing for money. As I have mentioned previously, there are many more steps that privatised utilities and other organisations have to go through before they can bring in the bailiffs including mitigation and referral to independent third parties for advice. As far as I am aware, Hounslow will go through a process in which a fine is issue and more letters are sent with bailiffs automatically brought in with no attempt to find out anything about the circumstances of the person whose life they might be ruining. If you genuinely believe that the huge increase in use of bailiffs by Hounslow doesn’t represent a significant social injustice and presents the risk of more tragic cases such as Jerome’s, then you should argue your case. However, don’t try to distract from the issue by pointing in the opposite direction and going ‘blah, blah, motornormativity’ or ‘what about the children?’.
Jeremy Parkinson ● 57d