Camden Council

Just got back from a three night short break skiing in Austria (not much snow, but enough for two full days snowboarding) to find that Camden Council have caught me again on one of their evil 24–hour real–time video monitors (operator 1576!) and sent me a £100 Penalty Charge Notice. A google search suggests that I am not the first person to be caught by this camera, which according to the linked Evening Standard article makes an estimated £12,000 a day for the Council! Nothing appears to have changed in terms of the road layout or the signage since the article in 2005. It seems from the evidence therefore that this is a money–making scheme, undertaken with malice aforethought by the Council, to tempt people into committing what a reasonable man would not realise was an offence so that fines can be levied. That is wrong and makes me cross. It is not appropriate for what is supposed to be a public service to act as a highway robber, extracting unjust tolls with menaces on those passing through its territory. If Camden Council needs more money to fund its services, it should raise the council tax (sorry, Camden residents) or procure more funds from central government. The employment of men and women to raise funds by watching these 24–hour real–time cameras and sending out penalties leaves an extremely bad taste in my mouth.

Labels: driving, london