Notice of Variation

From time to time the Council will decide to vary parking charges (usually this means an increase in the charge). Once the decision has been taken by the Council, there is no need to go through a process of amending the relevant traffic order.  Instead, the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 allows a local authority to bring such changes into force by simply issuing a notice of variation.  This notice must be given at least 3 weeks before the changes are due to have effect.

The relevant parts of the Act are Section 35C (for off-street car parks) and Section 46A (for on-street parking bays).

Less frequently used is Section 77 of the Traffic Management Act 2004, which provides for a similar notice to be given in respect of changes in the fines imposed by penalty charges (“parking tickets” as issued by civil enforcement officers) and other such charges (e.g. for release of a vehicle from a wheel clamp or for storage in and release from a vehicle pound).  The decision as to the level of such charges is taken the Mayor of London in consultation with a joint committee of all London authorities (the organisation is called “London Councils”) and is agreed with the Secretary of State for Transport.  The amount of these penalty charges etc are not written in to a Traffic Order, so notice under Section 77 does not, in fact, affect the Council’s TMOs.

Notices of variation, as described above, are published in a local newspaper. The Council will include such notices on the Public Notice page of the website.