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Council admit Chiswick parking charges unjustified
Councillor
on Hounslow Borough's executive concedes basis for higher permit
charges is unsound
In what appears to be a major climb down on the issue of higher
permit charges in Chiswick, a leading councillor has stated that
"there doesn't seem to be a lot of justification for the difference."
Councillor Ruth Cadbury is the member of the executive with responsibility
for transport matters. The statement was made to a local newspaper
and not denied when she was contacted by ChiswickW4.com.
Cllr. Cadbury recently published a wide-ranging report on parking
issues in which she recommended a reduction of the permit charge
for Chiswick but not down to levels prevailing elsewhere in the
borough. At the same time penalty charges are to rise substantially.
Several reasons have previously been put forward by the council
as to why Chiswick was paying up to twice the level of other areas
in the borough. These included better transport links and the cost
of implementation. Opponents of higher charges believe these justifications
have been thoroughly discredited. Data from Transport for London
appears to show that Hounslow Town Centre, which has the lowest
charges, has the best transport links in the borough and the West
Chiswick scheme will be paying the higher charge despite the fact
is being paid for out of funds derived from Chiswick Business Park
for improved transport links and is therefore costing the Council
nothing.
Cllr. Cadbury's report says that the higher charges are set "to
reflect the highest levels of demand". Cllr. Peter Thompson
described this claim as "rubbish" pointing out that survey
by the Council recently showed that there was under usage in permit
controlled areas within Chiswick.
A local resident commented on the discussion forum, "the real
reason is that the Labour party is happy to take more money from
this part of the borough because their core support is not based
here. " In the financial year to March 2001 Hounslow Council
raised over £3mn from parking related fees with over 70% of
that coming from Chiswick. The Council, last year, attempted to
have Chiswick put into the top band for penalty charges but the
authorities rejected their case due to insufficient evidence.
With Council revenue under pressure from changes to the level of
central government funding they are becoming increasingly dependent
on fee based revenues. New legislation will give them powers to
collect revenues from fines for bus lane violations and littering.
Concern has been expressed that the focus of collection of these
fines will be in this part of the borough.
The report on parking remains a proposal and all the changes are
subject to further consultation including the level of parking charges.
Parking related revenue from Chiswick forms a significant part of
Hounslow Borough so even if it is conceded that the charges must
be standardised, it may be impossible to do so from a financial
point of view.
March
30, 2003
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Full
text of proposals - Acrobat Reader required
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