Forum Topic

Increased parking charges

You voted labour. This what you got. Next time, support your local shopkeepers. Insist that the Tories pledge to reduce these monstrous charges. Then vote for them!

Mike Fox ● 4933d12 Comments

Mike,The Ealing Conservatives are running a petition to try to persuade the Labour administration in Ealing to stop putting up the parking charges.  They have pushed through 3 rises in 3 years since 2010.  Up until then the Conservatives in Ealing had frozen all parking charges for four years.  Permits are twice as expensive now.  Hourly visitors' vouchers are up by a minimum of 50%.  Some are up 350%.  Some all day visitors' vouchers are up 350% from £1 to £4.50.  Sign the petition here:gopetition.com/petitions/freeze-ealing-parking-charges.html

Phil Taylor ● 4932d

Amidst all the headlines today about benefits changes coming into force there will be another change here in Ealing today that will hit all of us in the pocket.For the third year running Labour will increase parking charges in the borough. For four years the previous Conservative administration froze these charges. The Labour administration has set out to double its income from these charges as a part of its efforts to add £10 million a year to the fees and charges it collects from the public.From today parking permits in the 2/3 hours zones will be £50. For four years they were £25. They have doubled (100% increase) in three years.From today parking permits in the all day zones will be £80. For four years they were £45. Again they have almost doubled (78% increase) in three years.Hourly visitors’ vouchers in the 2/3 hour zones have gone up 50%. They were 40p for four years. Now they are 60p.It is a lot worse in the all day zones. They used to get 3 hours for 40p. Now it is 60p an hour. A 350% increase. The all day visitor’s vouchers were £1 for four years. They have gone up 350% to £4.50.These charges far exceed the cost of administering and policing the controlled parking zones. By the time the council has finished it will have at least doubled its income from these charges. In just the first year of Labour’s rises income from parking charges rose 43%.To stop Labour's parking price spiral sign here:http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/freeze-ealing-parking-charges/signatures.html

Phil Taylor ● 4915d

£50 is still a bargain. Phil's compatriots in Hammersmith charge £119. All monies from Parking have to be used for transport related expenditure. Again we have to ask what would Phil cut to return it to £25.

Pete Grist ● 4914d

Phil, 'hit all of us in the pocket' is typical political rhetoric.  You assume everyone drives?There is limited parking capacity in Acton as it is. Why not look at reducing the need to drive around town and encouraging more people to use public transport?How about comparing the cost of parking with the cost of a bus ticket (or 2 tickets if you have to change buses!)?

N Roberts ● 4914d

Pete,Are you comparing Hammersmith's £119 with Ealing's £80 for a full day?  Have Hammersmith doubled their charges in 3 years?  You are wrong about how the money is used.  Income from PCNs is rengfenced for transport.  Income from CPZ and other parking charges can be used for anything.  We are pointing out that it has doubled and we are asking for a freeze.  If I was to try to fund a reduction of these charges I would look at staff terms and conditions (worth about £10 million) and senior management costs that Labour has barely shaved.  I would also look at the £250K union faciity time budget that has increased rather than fallen recently.  I might not spend £5 million on an economically non-sensical car park in Southall (the temporary one is a financial disaster).  I might not spend £3/4 million on doing up the town hall and all the perfectly good footpaths around it.  I might not spend a similar amount buying a petrol station that people actually use near North Acton Tube station and building a contrete piazza.  The list goes on.

Phil Taylor ● 4914d

N,My comments are directed at people who live in a CPZ I accept.  If you are a non-driver in an all day CPZ then your carer, builder, plumber, carpet layer, etc will cost you £4.50 a day in parking charges under Labour compared to £1 under the Conservatives.  You choose.

Phil Taylor ● 4914d

I agree with Pete - I don't think permit prices are that bad.  There is limited parking so something has to be done.

Sarah Harris ● 4914d

I have signed the online petition against the huge increases for Visitor parking charges.  There are two issues in my view - personally, I don't object to paying for my Residents Parking Permit as it means I can always park in my street - which had become a real problem before its introduction given the massive new housing developments all around our street.  But the whopping increase in visitor parking vouchers since then(or via the pay-by-phone) are outrageous.  My parking zone is 7 days a week from 9am to 9pm by popular demand.  However when that was voted for, it was before these astronomical increases.  I didn't mind coughing up £1 for a day or 30p for 3 hours for my guests to park - but at the new rates it even puts me off inviting people round- should I pay for them or should they?  The point originally was to stop commuter parking and then latterly with the increased hours, people from nearby with no on or off street parking available, from parking - not to make it prohibitive for residents to have visitors!

Jane Rudolph ● 4914d

Driving in London is an absolute nightmare, in every aspect and its getting worse year on year.In the near future it will be enjoyed only by the rich!

Jay Bower ● 4909d

For three years running Labour has increased parking charges in the borough.  This year, election year, they have given us a year off.  For four years the previous Conservative administration froze these charges. The Labour administration has set out to double its income from these charges as a part of its efforts to add £10 million a year to the fees and charges it collects from the public.Parking permits in the 2/3 hours zones are £50. For four years they were £25. They have doubled (100% increase).Parking permits in the all day zones are £80. For four years they were £45. Again they have almost doubled (78% increase).Hourly visitors’ vouchers in the 2/3 hour zones have gone up 50%. They were 40p for four years. Now they are 60p.It is a lot worse in the all day zones. They used to get 3 hours for 40p. Now it is 60p an hour. A 350% increase. The all day visitor’s vouchers were £1 for four years. They have gone up 350% to £4.50.  We intend to do something about this particularly egregious rise but more on that another day.  These charges far exceed the cost of administering and policing the controlled parking zones. By the time the council has finished it will have at least doubled its income from these charges. In just the first year of Labour’s rises income from parking charges rose 43%.Interestingly Labour is calling our pledges "costly promises".  If they reckon that freezing these charges after they have been ramped so steeply is "costly" I can only imagine that they intend to double parking income again in the next four years if they get back in.

Phil Taylor ● 4512d

The current Labour administration has got the balance wrong between commuters and residents with its latest changes to Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) parking charges.  On the one hand Labour has put up all day visitors’ vouchers three times in three years.  They were frozen at a £1 for four years under the Conservatives.  Since 2010 they have gone up to £2.50, then to £3.50, and finally to an excruciating £4.50 a day to allow your visitors and tradesmen to park near your home in an all day CPZ.  The Conservatives propose to cut this charge to £2.50 as soon as they are elected in May.  On the other hand Labour is rolling out a £2 a day charge for commuters in CPZs in Acton and Ealing, but notably not in Southall.  CPZs are only ever introduced as a result large scale commuter or long term parking problems.  They are put in near town centres and transport nodes to prevent commuting.  Over the last couple of years Labour has allowed commuters to park near Willesden Junction station, near Ealing Town Centre and Northfield Tube station for only £2 a day and most recently it has allowed commuters to park by Ealing Cricket Club just near Ealing Broadway train station.  I reckon that Labour’s Bassam Mahfouz has misjudged this badly.  He has got his CPZ pricing wrong.  Charging residents’ own visitors, most often their own family, more than twice as much as commuters to park in a CPZ is just plain wrong.  The Council’s first priority should be accommodating the needs of residents over commuters.  The Conservatives will reduce the £4.50 visitors’ voucher to £2.50 as soon as we can after 22nd May.  This change will cost very little as sales of these vouchers have slumped since their price went through the roof.  We will sell many more cheaper vouchers and the cost of this change will be minimal.  The £4.50 charge applies to all day visitors’ vouchers in all day CPZs: Zone A: Central EalingZone B: Bedford ParkZone C and D: University of West LondonZone DD: Bollo BridgeZone EE: BrentvaleZone H: Home ZoneZone K: Acton CentralZone KK: The ValeZone L: SouthallZone LL: Southall 5Zone M: Acton GreenZone MM1: The DriveZone R: Southfields (until it moves to two hours of operation)Zone S: South EalingZone T: The ValeZone T1: The ValeZone U: Green ManZone V: Southall 2Zone X: Valetta Road Full details of CPZs can be found here.

Phil Taylor ● 4505d

I miss the 3 hr charge.  1 hr often isn't long enough and all day is too long.

Philippa Bond ● 4504d