cliffanger
LIFE MEMBER
John lunarman reminded us of this when we met him this weekend, and just happened to mention that our van was due for an MOT today in our usual commercial MOT garage on the Lower Bristol Road.
When we got home, and after consulting the map, we spotted that the garage was in the clean air zone, and so went through the process for applying for the exemption permit to bring the £100 down to £9 for each trip in. Even though it’s an application for them to get money out of you, the application has to be approved, which will take up to 14 days, during which time, if you want to go into the CAZ it will cost you £100!
We rang the CAZ office and said we needed the permit by the next day, and the man said ‘no way, it takes up to 14 days. He then said “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but there is a grace period, so if you go and get your MOT done you will get a Fixed Penalty Charge sent out for the fine, but if you pay it within 7 days, by contacting the automated number, you will get it reduced to £9”! Thanks mate, but having had experience of trying to contact automated numbers to get a parking fine reduced before, I’ll give that one a miss!
The unbelievableness of it doesn’t end there however!
We contacted the garage to say we would be cancelling the MOT until our permit comes through, and it might be a good idea for them to tell future customers that they are within the CAZ and the girls on the phone were flabbergasted! They had been told by BANES that motor homes were exempt, so had no idea that anyone coming to them for an MOT on their PHGV motorhome would be charged £100, or maybe even given a larger fine!
Unbelievably it doesn’t end there!
After getting this sorted yesterday, I sat down and had a well earned coffee. It was then that it dawned on me that the Lower Bristol Road going around the Centre of Bath, where the garage is located (A commercial MOT centre by the way) is a nationally designated HGV route that avoids the centre of Bath!!!!! Can you believe that they have included an HGV route in the CAZ!!!!! All I hope is that the wealthy owners of houses in areas directly outside the CAZ are happy about the fleet of commercial lorries and vans that will be passing their lovely houses!
Yet another reason not to visit Bath, or its environs!
When we got home, and after consulting the map, we spotted that the garage was in the clean air zone, and so went through the process for applying for the exemption permit to bring the £100 down to £9 for each trip in. Even though it’s an application for them to get money out of you, the application has to be approved, which will take up to 14 days, during which time, if you want to go into the CAZ it will cost you £100!
We rang the CAZ office and said we needed the permit by the next day, and the man said ‘no way, it takes up to 14 days. He then said “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but there is a grace period, so if you go and get your MOT done you will get a Fixed Penalty Charge sent out for the fine, but if you pay it within 7 days, by contacting the automated number, you will get it reduced to £9”! Thanks mate, but having had experience of trying to contact automated numbers to get a parking fine reduced before, I’ll give that one a miss!
The unbelievableness of it doesn’t end there however!
We contacted the garage to say we would be cancelling the MOT until our permit comes through, and it might be a good idea for them to tell future customers that they are within the CAZ and the girls on the phone were flabbergasted! They had been told by BANES that motor homes were exempt, so had no idea that anyone coming to them for an MOT on their PHGV motorhome would be charged £100, or maybe even given a larger fine!
Unbelievably it doesn’t end there!
After getting this sorted yesterday, I sat down and had a well earned coffee. It was then that it dawned on me that the Lower Bristol Road going around the Centre of Bath, where the garage is located (A commercial MOT centre by the way) is a nationally designated HGV route that avoids the centre of Bath!!!!! Can you believe that they have included an HGV route in the CAZ!!!!! All I hope is that the wealthy owners of houses in areas directly outside the CAZ are happy about the fleet of commercial lorries and vans that will be passing their lovely houses!
Yet another reason not to visit Bath, or its environs!