Monday 2 April 2012

The unintended consequences of high parking charges

We will provide you will a full update on the legal action shortly but, in the meantime, please take a minute to read some information that has been dug up by the Barnet Eye blog.


 
In summary, in an extraordinary move, Barnet Council is planning to impose new curbs on parking on both sides of Bittacy Hill in Mill Hill East.  This will reduce further the available parking, inconveniencing households who just want to be able park themselves and welcome guests to their homes whilst also putting further pressure on businesses. 

But why are we mentioning this? Bittacy Hill isn't even in a CPZ. Well, as the Barnet Eye reveals, that is precisely the point. It turns out that people have been parking on Bittacy Hill in order to avoid the absurd charges that apply in the nearby CPZ. 

Not only are these newly displaced drivers avoiding paying any charges to the council (they had previously at least been paying something to the council), the increased number of parked cars has been causing havoc: Residents are inconvenienced, road safety is undermined, buses and other traffic disrupted. 

In our campaign, we have focused a lot on the penal cost to residents of CPZ parking. But this isn't the only consequence. Parking revenue is falling well short of that expected as people go to great lengths to avoid charges that they know are unjustified. But this in turn is causing further disruption and inconvenience for residents and businesses.  Barnet Council have created a perfect lose-lose situation.

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