Norman Downie: Parking pioneer passes away

Norman Downie, the founder of parking consultancy RTA Associates in 1991, has sadly passed away at the age of 80.

Downie gained a Dip.Ed. from Aberdeen University in 1967 and went on to work in various specialist IT roles both for himself as a start-up business and for major IT companies during the boom time for technological advances.

In the late 1980s he worked as the managing director of a company providing, managing and co-ordinating services to the Metropolitan Police for the establishment and operation of their clamping and removal operations in central London.

Recognising an opportunity in 1991, he established a privately owned consultancy, RTA Associates, specialising in advising authorities on the implementation of decriminalised parking enforcement.

Downie worked with Chris Brimley from Brentwood Borough Council, against a lot of opposition to change, pioneered the use of digitised map-based traffic orders. This work laid the foundations for the development of the D-TRO system we use today.

Peter Lowe, the current owner and managing director, of RTAA recalls Downie was a fun-loving person who liked a laugh. For example, when giving a presentation to Cheshire Council in 2001, Downie dressed in his Rupert bear golfing trousers as he had forgotten to pack his suit!

Colleagues remember him as being a lovely man who was not only the MD but a friend, colleague and mentor to many. His vast knowledge and experience of the nuances of decriminalised parking enforcement, acquired before most people outside of London had even heard of DPE.

Outside of work he was a true dedicated family man and also a keen motor enthusiast who retired in 2011, to among other things, build a car in his garage from a rusty chassis.

Peter Lowe said: "Never to be forgotten in the parking world and fondly remembered by everyone he met. Norman you will find your space in heaven but please keep between the lines."