Loading/Unloading Exemption

If you were actively loading or unloading goods, you may have a defence — but only if the site's displayed parking terms permit loading/unloading. There is no automatic statutory exemption on private land; it depends on the contract shown on the signs. The activity must be continuous and genuine.

Legal basis

There is no statutory loading/unloading exemption on private land (unlike on-street council enforcement, where loading is governed by the local traffic order). On private land the only question is contractual — whether the operator's displayed terms permit the activity. The BPA–IPC Private Parking Single Code of Practice Clause 3.1 requires the site's terms and conditions to be displayed on signage the driver can read at the time of parking. A defence exists only where those displayed terms permit loading/unloading, or where on the facts the vehicle was not parked within the meaning of the terms. This is a contract/signage defence, not an exemption.

How to identify this in your case

Document what you were loading/unloading, duration, and that the activity was continuous.

Sample appeal wording

Before you send this

Deadline. A late submission can be turned down without your argument being read. Check your notice for the deadline and how it is counted.
Paying may end it. Paying can count as accepting the notice and can close a challenge already under way. Part-paying or acknowledging an old debt can also revive a time limit that had expired.
The amount can change. Check what happens to the sum if you challenge — it may be held, re-offered lower, or keep rising, and fees or enforcement can continue meanwhile.
Use the official route. Use the method, recipient and form your notice specifies, with any reference, evidence and signature it asks for. Sent elsewhere, it may not count.
Only say what is true. Do not copy any statement of fact unless it is true for you, and check the legal point still applies. Delete what does not fit. It may be treated as your statement.
Careful what you volunteer. Avoid unnecessary admissions — naming the driver or accepting responsibility can remove arguments. But answer anything you are legally required to answer, and do include the evidence your ground needs.
Keep the record. Keep what you sent, the attachments, any receipt, and the reply. Note the next deadline.

Sample wording to adapt and send yourself — it may not fit your notice or the stage you are at. Replace the bracketed prompts with your own details; leave any case citation as it is.

At the time the alleged contravention was recorded, I was engaged in loading/unloading [DESCRIBE: e.g., 'heavy shopping', 'work equipment']. I was parked for [DURATION] and was with my vehicle throughout. The parking signage permits loading/unloading. I was not 'parked' within the meaning of the restriction; I was engaged in a permitted activity.

Beat It writes this argument automatically

Scan your PCN — our AI checks if this ground applies to your specific ticket, drafts a properly-cited appeal letter, and sends it for you where the council takes email — guiding you through their own online form where they use one, so you press submit. The win fee is only charged if you win.

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Sources

BPA–IPC Private Parking Single Code of Practice, Clause 3.1 (signage must display the terms and conditions applying to the land)