Residents report Festival Place parking charges despite payment

On 26 August 2026, the first case was raised directly with me by a resident. I was also aware of other residents discussing similar experiences on social media.

Residents have told me they received parking charge notices after visiting Festival Place, Basingstoke – even though they say they had paid for their parking. Some report that, after submitting evidence of payment when appealing, they were still asked to pay a reduced charge of £20.

That day I contacted Hozah and UK Parking Administration (UKPA), copying in Councillor Paul Harvey, Leader of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, and Luke Murphy MP. I asked them to investigate, cancel notices for affected residents, and treat a payment receipt as grounds to cancel any charge.

I did not receive a response to that email. The full text is reproduced below.

Dear Hozah Support Team and UK Parking Administration Complaints Team,

A number of residents in the Basingstoke & Deane area are incorrectly receiving penalty charge notices for parking at Festival Place, Basingstoke – even though they have paid.

These reports have come from a mix of residents who have either reported it to me directly or I have seen discussing this on social media.

Even once submitting evidence of payment to appeal the penalty charge notices, residents are still being charged the reduced £20 rather than the £100 initially requested.

I don’t believe the number of complaints is acceptable and possibly points to a fault in the system doing this automatic registration or payment. This warrants investigation.

If a resident submits a receipt for payment, then any charge notice from yourselves should be cancelled.

Please can you investigate this issue and cancel the parking notices of those residents who have been affected by this issue.

All the best,

Alex Rowley

Next in this series: Follow-up questions on keying errors

This is part of ongoing work on Festival Place parking.

This update was published on 4 September 2026. It records action taken on 26 August 2026.