HAVING read your articles about £50 tram fines, I wanted to share my experience of being issued with a penalty fare notice with you.
I live in Derbyshire and I rarely travel into Nottingham using the tram network. At around 9.15am on Sunday, June 29, I boarded a tram at Phoenix Park with my three-year-old son. On arriving at Phoenix Park, I saw no signage informing me that I needed to purchase a ticket prior to boarding the tram, and therefore assumed that I paid on board, as I have always done in the past.
After finding a seat for myself and my son, I got out my purse ready to pay the attendant. It was while waiting to pay that I noticed a sign displayed inside the tram informing me of the new rules regarding paying for journeys. I immediately shouted a tram attendant over to ask about the payment of fares. I apologised immediately.
He said very little to me and instead went to speak to his colleagues further down the cabin. He returned shortly after and asked my son and I to vacate the tram with no explanation as to what was happening. I was then issued with a penalty fare notice.
I was very upset at the prospect of paying a £50 fine for an innocent mistake which I had tried to rectify immediately. I was only travelling into Nottingham as I had some free tickets to take my little boy ice skating for the first time. What should have been a special day for my son and I had been completely ruined by the thought of having to pay the fine.
I felt intimidated by the attendant and his colleague as I gave my details. I was in a place very unfamiliar to me and felt my questions and explanations were not being listened to. This treatment was completely unfair and unnecessary. I understand that I had made a mistake but I was made to feel like a criminal.
On returning to Phoenix Park following my visit into the city, I looked carefully for information informing customers of the changes to payment methods. There was only a single, small banner under the shelter.
The ticket machines displayed no signage either; however, there was an attendant stood by them informing customers of the ticketing changes and ensuring that everyone who passed the machines had purchased a ticket. He had not been present when I passed the machines.
Surely if the signage is clear enough, then there would be no need to pay an attendant to complete this role. I feel it is completely unfair that I was not informed of the ticketing changes prior to boarding the tram, especially when people travelling later in the day were told personally.
I understand the need to enforce penalties on those who intentionally avoid paying their tram fares. However, I am not one of these people. I should not be punished for the failings of NET to provide adequate information with regards the changes to payment methods.
I appealed against the penalty fare notice immediately, hoping that common sense would prevail and the fine would be dropped; however, my appeal was unsuccessful.
If I do not pay the fine of £50, then I can expect it to increase to £1,000 with the threat of a criminal record! Ridiculous. I will not be returning to Nottingham in a hurry and will never use the Nottingham tram system again after the way in which I have been treated.
KIRSTY COUPLAND
Church Street
Waingroves
Ripley
AS someone who is a more mature member of the human race, how pleasing it is to see how far our society has developed in terms of equality, particularly in recent times.
Women bishops; more women in key roles in Government; less commotion when people in the public eye are happy not to deny their sexuality; the rules of succession to the throne. Long may such prejudices, for whatever reasons, continue to disappear, and may human beings be more tolerant of our individual differences.
LILIAN THORNLEY
Main Road
Radcliffe-on-Trent
KATE Holmes, in her letter about the care home proposed for Loughborough Road, says it would be "depressing" for residents to look out on Wilford Hill Cemetery.
It's because we never really talk about death openly, which is quite sad. My mum and dad rest at Wilford Cemetery, and my sisters and I visit often. Over the years, I have worked caring for hundreds of older people, who would often say "I'm going to Wilford", or "so-and-so's at Bulwell". When we visit, we remember happy days gone by.
JEAN TAYLOR
Barlock Road
Basford
We all live on the edge of darkness,
Teetering on the brink,
Listening to our voice of reason,
Do we swim or do we sink?
Sometimes we all edge nearer
But somehow pull away
When all you feel is hopeless
At the end of a desperate day.
But keep your wits about you,
Think straight whatever's on your mind,
Hang this side of darkness
Don't step over the dividing line.
Keep within your boundaries,
Face the world full on,
Think of all the people it will hurt
If one day you should be gone.
Hang this side of darkness
However bleak things seem to be,
Think of all life's good times
Then I know your mind will be free.
J SHAW
Clive Crescent
Kimberley
Our World Cup now is over,
Four long years have come and gone;
Another four are looming
Till again we bring it on.
A pass of pure precision
Or a stunning strike on goal,
Superb in breathless beauty
To entrance our very soul.
Or damn some team's oblivion
Log-jammed, long since sent home
With other mighty nations
Whilst some minion takes their throne.
To some it's merely just a game,
To some it's so much more,
Not so much a passion
More a thirst for total war.
So whether you're elated
Desolate, reduced to tears,
Next time could all be different,
Well it's only four more years.
Yet those who wonder why the fuss,
Deride not football's draw;
You too must have some passion,
Just one, or maybe more?
IAN GRAY
Wollaton Road
Wollaton Park
Like the sun sets
The body will die.
Only the spirit will awaken
In a new dawn on high.
The sun never dies
But it will rise
To a new birth
Above the skies.
Don't be afraid
Of going your way
For tomorrow you will
Be back,
Yes back this way.
Life is forever at his command
Some have proof,
Others don't understand.
A new life earned
After rest come what may
Your old body is gone,
Your spirit will stay
Returned forever
With loved ones in view
What more could you want
But a heavenly review
That's anew.
DOROTHY McGOUGH
Larchdene Avenue
Wollaton
I would not want to have been Adam
That is, before he fell,
All that leisure there in Eden
With not a jot of work as far as I can tell.
They just had their fruit and ate it,
Weeds and snails left to their own devices,
No hedge-cutting, no digging. No, no, no!
Idleness: the deadliest of vices.
As I write my hands are dirty
With garden soil they've been employed,
Yes, I am grubby, sweaty, joyful
Gardening – a task I never would avoid
BERNIE BROWN
Leslie Road
Forest Fields
Do paedophiles and rapists
In Parliament abound?
Are sex offenders and perverts
Also to be found?
Why could we be ruled
By such criminals as these?
Because entering Parliament
Is for them just a breeze?
There's no qualification needed,
No personality test.
Just con the local party
And they will do the rest.
So rare are investigations.
So rare the naming names.
Is cover-up on cover-up
The true name of the game?
I'll show you a thief,
If you show me a liar.
Who is under such a cloud?
Is there no smoke without fire?
Metaphors, similes, cliches,
They each hint at the facts,
But many, many years go by
Before our "representative" acts.
Psychopath or sociopath
Call them what you will,
One thing is certain:
In Parliament they serve us ill.
R L COOPER
Harlequin Close
Radcliffe-on-Trent
