Hook Parade - responding to the petition
At the South of the Borough Neighbourhood meeting last month we decided to install parking meters in Hook Parade. This idea was first floated by the local traders some time ago. They were concerned that cars which were parked for very long periods were making it difficult for some of their customers to get to the shops.
The report on the consultation on the proposals was fairly inconclusive from the point of view of residents and shoppers. But of the nine traders who responded, seven were in favour of parking meters, so we agreed to go ahead with the scheme.
At Neighbourhood Committee last night we were presented with a petition signed by 1200 people objecting to parking meters, plus letters from the traders. So we have put the proposals on hold and will have meetings with the traders and the people who live in the flats above the shops. The results will be reported to the July meeting when we will have the opportunity to cancel the project formally.
Comments: 2
: 0
Looks like I have jumped the gun a little and had just sent you a long email against the parking scheme.
So far I have been very pleased with all the good work undertaken by the Lib Dems, and I even deliver leaflets for your party. But I was very distressed at the thought of paying to park outside our local shops in Hook Parade. All of the shopkeepers seem to be against it and so are all the local residents that I have spoken to.
From my experience having moved from Wandsworth, I have seen how parking restrictions started around Clapham Junction, and then eventually became Residents Parking for the whole borough. This caused all sorts of problems, ranging from visitors being issued tickets as wardens hadn't seen that a paid ticket was displayed, or tickets being issued while change for the meter was being found, or for being a couple of minutes over the time paid for, or visitors just avoiding the area or not staying as long as they would have.
I had an appointment and had to go out for the whole day, at that time I didn't have a resident’s permit, so I was paying £1 per hour to park outside my house. As I could only park for 4 hours, I phoned the council and they suggested that I leave my car keys and some change with a neighbour so they could pay for the next four hours for me. This is totally unacceptable.
Back to the issue of parking near the shops. I don't relalise that parking had ever been a problem outside the shops, so the only reason I could see for paying would be to raise money for the council.
In your recent newsletter it says that 'Tories ignore local people'. I have seen petitions in all of the local shops, and they are being completed by local people...! I am now pleased to see that you are cancelling the scheme.
Please do not let it takes over the whole borough and leads to issues such as people not registering their cars, abandoning cars rather than paying extortionate fines and already 1 in 5 car break-ins is apparently to steal disabled badges to avoid parking fines. I feel so strongly about it, I would even consider moving out of the area.
Thank you for listening to local residents. Julie
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