Parking fees

South London Press

Parking hike ploy to fight congestion

Dec 24 2002
By Transport Reporter Oscar Mortali

PARKING fees have been hiked in anticipation of the congestion charge launch.

Lambeth has jacked-up the price to deter out-of-town motorists from using the borough as a giant car park when the £5 levy is introduced in February.

Kennington - split in half by Mayor Ken's boundary - is the worst hit with fees DOUBLING from £1.50 an hour to £3. There's also a hefty jump for Waterloo - £2.40 to £4 - and in Brixton, Stockwell, Clapham, Camberwell and Tulse Hill, it's up 80p to £2.

The news is sure to infuriate independent traders who fear shoppers will flock to supermarkets, many of which offer free parking.

John Johnson, of non-political pressure group Rescue London, said: "It will hit the poor hardest and it is being dressed up us protecting us locals from commuter parking."

The group - made up of fed-up Walworth Road traders - has seen profits plummet as parking fees have risen.

The news comes after the announcement that parking fines may rise to £100 in some boroughs.

Meanwhile, Lambeth has slashed the price of resident and visitor permits for people living inside the congestion charge boundary.

The price of a visitor permit - available only to those who know someone in the road - falls from £2.50 to £2, and residents will now pay £50 a year instead of £60.

Lambeth says it is to compensate for the cost of congestion charge and make it easier for friends or family to park.

In terms of the hourly hikes, the council said pay and display parking places were last increased in Brixton, Kennington and Clapham in 1997 and 1998 in Waterloo, where parking is considerably cheaper than in neighbouring Westminster.

A spokeswoman said: "The increase in pay and display charges is necessary to discourage the knock-on effect of congestion charging displacement parking. "This may have a particular impact in areas where there are rail and Tube stations which attract travellers to central London."

Lambeth councillor Andrew Sawdon, who has responsibility for transport, said: "Many of these meters are on side streets and the majority of small shops in Lambeth tend to be on main roads where there are 20-minute free parking bays."

Southwark council told the South London Press it had no plans to increase parking charges in this financial year.

[ Previous | Next ]