| Shadow city development spokesman Rod Wallace was speaking after a Tele investigation revealed the council issued £612,690 worth of tickets to the owners of illegally parked cars in the 12 months to April 1, but £364,140 of the money remains unpaid.
The Conservative councillor said he was “quite staggered” to hear such a large amount was owed to the cash-strapped local authority during a period of severe financial pressure.
He said, “I had no idea it was such a significant amount of fines going uncollected. Based on this information, I will certainly be sending an email to the director of city development Mike Galloway asking for an explanation.
“There are policies for enforcement and owners of the vehicles are easily traceable through the DVLA, so something really needs to be done. Every penny is so precious these days that to slip like that is unacceptable.”
However, Mr Wallace said there could be a reasonable explanation for some of the uncollected fines. He added, “I am not protecting anyone, but maybe there will be a reason why some of this money could not be collected — if they are contesting the fine, for example — but clearly many of these people have been caught by the system and must pay up.”
The Tele figures, obtained under freedom of information legislation, also showed that £82,980 of fines have already been written off or cancelled by the council. A council spokesman insisted that parking cheats would face legal action if they don’t pay up.
He said, “We will pursue all legal means to get the money back. That can mean freezing wages, the sequestration of assets and we can, in serious cases, impound someone’s car.
“If we do that it means they won’t get their vehicle back until they pay outstanding fees and a £180 penalty, plus £20 a day storage charge.”
City development convener Will Dawson said, “Every case has to be taken on its own merits and how it is followed up has to be taken from there.
“We have got everything we can in place to make sure the money from the fines is chased up.”
A total of 23,849 Penalty Charge Notices were issued by Dundee City Council during the year — an average of just over 65 every day. The streets most frequently targeted by wardens included South Tay Street (1308 PCNs issued), Perth Road (881) and Crichton Street (564).
A significant number of fines were also handed out at the city’s pay and display car parks, with the facilities at Commercial Street (789), Gellatly Street (352) and Hunter Street (351) proving hot spots. |
