Review notice to keeper and prepare appeal as “Registered Keeper” at www.appealmetparking.com which will take you to https://metpark.zatappeal.com/ (This will get rejected but is a needed step to go to POPLA)
You must not select a tick box to accept liability for another driver when appealing a parking ticket from MET Parking sites above, as this will transfer the liability to you. (This is sneaky and only is on the form when appealing as the registered keeper. I unfortunately did not take a clip of the form please send me a clip of that picture to help others I will update this when I get one at feedback@southgate-parking.uk)
Copy the below. (You will need to save the image locally and attach it to your appeal)
Southgate Park is within the boundary of Stansted Airport. Please see the boundary picture taken from public records attached. The red mark indicates the location of Southgate Park, Stansted CM24 1PY. This clearly shows the park within the boundary of the airport designated site land.
Please provide evidence that this location is designated as “relevant land” and not governed by a statutory scheme, which is applied and governed by the airport owner/operator, in this case, Manchester Airports Group.
Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (Ref: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/9/notes/division/5/1/3/3)
Keeper liability under Schedule 4 applies only to “relevant land.”
Paragraphs 2–3 of Schedule 4 make clear that the scheme is restricted to “relevant land.”
“Relevant land” expressly excludes:
(a) highways maintainable at public expense,
(b) parking places provided or controlled by a traffic authority, and
(c) any land where parking is governed by a statutory scheme, including under Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004.
Land under statutory control is therefore not “relevant land.”
Paragraph 220 explicitly states:
“Other land where parking is governed by a statutory scheme … is also excluded from the scheme as set out in this Schedule.”
This means if the land is subject to statutory regulation (for example, council-controlled car parks, or land where parking enforcement is governed by by-laws or legislation), it is excluded from Schedule 4 altogether.
If land is not “relevant land,” the statutory mechanism for keeper liability does not apply.
Paragraph 221 provides that a creditor has the right to recover unpaid parking charges from the keeper only if the conditions in paragraphs 5, 6, 11 and 12 are satisfied.
However, the starting point is that this recovery right applies only to “relevant land.” If the land falls outside the definition (i.e., it is under statutory control), then Schedule 4 cannot be invoked to transfer liability from the driver to the keeper.
Legal consequence:
On non-relevant land, the driver alone may be liable (either by contract or by committing trespass).
The keeper cannot be held liable under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, because Parliament deliberately excluded land under statutory parking schemes.
The rejection response will look like this
Thank you for your correspondence received in regards to the above parking charge.
The terms and conditions of parking are clearly stated on signs prominently displayed in this area. These include that the
car park is a pay by phone car park and that there is 60 minutes free stay for Southgate Park customers. Your vehicle
was observed parked in breach of these terms as the premises located at Southgate Park (Starbucks) was closed at the
time and no payment was made for your stay, therefore we believe the charge was issued correctly and we are
upholding it.
Please note that this is private land and does not fall under airport byelaws.
We are confident there are sufficient signs at this location bringing the terms and conditions of parking to the attention of
motorists and it remains the driver’s responsibility to check the signs where they park and comply with the terms and
conditions.
We are also confident that our notice to keeper complies in all respects with the requirements of the Protection of
Freedoms Act and you are advised that where the charge has not been paid in full and 29 days has passed since we
GA42CDE
AB12312333
01/01/2025
issued the charge and we still do not know the name and address for service of court papers of the driver, we are
entitled to pursue the registered keeper for payment of the outstanding charge.