A Welsh language campaigner who refused to pay a parking fine that was only written in English has won his court battle. On Wednesday, former teacher and education officer for the Welsh Government Toni Schiavone appeared in Aberystwyth's civil court for refusing to pay a parking fine as the penalty notice and all subsequent correspondence was not served in Welsh.
Mr Schiavone was given with a parking notice in a car park in the Ceredigion seaside village of Llangrannog in September 2020. The car park is under the management of One Parking Solutions, which has its headquarters in Worthing in West Sussex.
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According to Welsh language pressure group, Cymdeithas yr Iaith, Mr Schiavone contacted the company requesting the penalty notice and further correspondence in Welsh several times. He stated that he would only pay the fine if it was served in Welsh.
However, Toni Schiavone's case was thrown out of court on Wednesday as there was no representative from One Parking Solutions present. As Mr Schiavone had asked for all correspondence from the court in Welsh, One Parking Solutions had to translate all the information for the court, including a copy of the fine.
The car park at the seafront in the tiny village of Llangrannog in Ceredigion has made headlines over the past few years due to the number of people receiving fines in the post after leaving their vehicles there. In April of this year for example, a man had been hit with a £270 fine despite paying for parking. You can read more about this story here.
Following the case, Toni Schiavone said: "I repeatedly asked for the penalty notice in Welsh, and I would have paid the fine, but instead One Parking Solutions decided to take me to court. Because they had been asked to translate a copy of the penalty notice for the court they did, but it took them a court case - and I haven't receive the official notice in Welsh at all. "
Thanking supporters who came to court he said this set a precedent for the company, he said: "Seeing as they've translated the copy of the penalty notice there is nothing to stop them from issuing penalty notices in Welsh in the future.
"Companies like this can do things in Welsh, but only if they are legally obliged to. And this is just one of many private companies that run car parks. Clearly, the Welsh Language Measure needs to to be changed to include the private sector.
"It's been more than ten years since the Language Measure was passed, and the Welsh language Standards have made a difference in the public sector - more people can and do use Welsh language services provided by their councils' and so on. So when will we see the same change in the private sector?"
The County Court at Aberystwyth confirmed that the claim had been dismissed. The District Judges' reasons were that: "The Claimant did not satisfy the Court on the balance of probabilities that the terms of any contract between the Claimants and Defendant were fair and therefore enforceable. The Court was bound to consider the fairness of the contract in accordance with the provisions of Section 71 Consumer Rights Act 2015."
