Sign lacks Welsh-language text in designated bilingual area

In Wales, traffic regulation orders and accompanying signs must be presented bilingually (Welsh and English) where the relevant local authority's Welsh Language Standards (made under the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011) require Welsh-language service delivery. In Gwynedd, Anglesey (Ynys Môn), Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire and other authorities subject to Standards Regulation (No. 1) 2015, all signs erected on the public highway by the council, including parking restriction signs, plates, and pay-and-display tariff boards, must give Welsh equal prominence to English. A sign that displays only English text (e.g. 'No Loading At Any Time' without 'Dim Llwytho Ar Unrhyw Adeg') in a Welsh Language Standards area is not lawfully erected and cannot found a valid PCN under the Traffic Management Act 2004 enforcement framework as adopted in Wales.

Legal basis

Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, ss.25–44; Welsh Language Standards (No. 1) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/996); Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 (TSRGD 2016) Sched 18 Pt 5 (Welsh language signs); Welsh Language Act 1993 s.5 (statutory continuation of bilingual obligation)

How to identify this in your case

Photograph the sign, plate, lining, and TRO controlling the bay. Check whether the issuing authority is named in the Welsh Language Standards (No. 1) Regulations 2015 or has its own bespoke Standards. If the sign is English-only and the council is on the list, the defence applies.

Sample appeal wording

Dear Sir/Madam, Re: PCN [PCN_NUMBER] — Vehicle [VRM] — [LOCATION], [DATE] I formally challenge this Penalty Charge Notice on the grounds that the traffic sign relied upon to create the alleged contravention is unlawfully erected and therefore unenforceable. 1. [COUNCIL_NAME] is bound by Welsh Language Standards imposed under section 44 of the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 (as set out in the Welsh Language Standards (No. 1) Regulations 2015 / the bespoke compliance notice issued to the Council). Service Delivery Standard 1 and the relevant Operational Standards require that any document, sign, or notice published by the Council, including signs erected on the public highway, must be in Welsh, and Welsh must be treated no less favourably than English. 2. The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 (TSRGD 2016) permit and, in Wales, require bilingual presentation of regulatory traffic signs. Welsh Government guidance (Traffic Signs Manual, Welsh edition) confirms that Welsh and English text must be of equal prominence on all permanent signs in Wales unless an exemption is granted by the Welsh Ministers. 3. The photographic evidence I attach shows the sign at [LOCATION] displays only English text ('[ENGLISH_WORDING]') with no Welsh equivalent ('[WELSH_WORDING]'). No exemption from the Welsh Ministers has been published in respect of this site. 4. A sign that does not comply with TSRGD 2016 is not 'lawfully placed' for the purposes of paragraph 1 of Schedule 7 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 (Welsh enforcement regime). The contravention therefore did not occur in law. I request that the PCN be cancelled. If it is not, I will appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal and rely on the Welsh Language Commissioner's right of intervention under section 93 of the 2011 Measure. Yn gywir / Yours faithfully, [NAME]

Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.

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Sources

legislation.gov.uk/mwa/2011/1
legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2015/996
legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/362
welshlanguagecommissioner.wales
gov.wales — Traffic Signs Manual (Welsh)