Value of Grove Park Fines Topped £13 Million Last Year

A sign notifying of the Staveley Road restriction. Picture: Google Streetview

January 22, 2023

Hounslow Council issued fines worth in excess of £13 million to motorists breaching access restrictions in Grove Park last year.

Over 100,000 Penalty Charge Notices for £130 were given out for driving during restricted hours along Staveley Road and Hartington Road. Most people receiving the fines elect to pay them during a discount period so the amount collected by the council will ultimately be less.

About 75% of the fines given during the year were for Staveley Road although, towards the end of the year, for reasons yet to be explained, the level of fines issued on the two roads started to become roughly equal.

The amount of fines given out peaked in March when £2,443,610 worth were given out and the monthly rate remained high until the summer when it dipped sharply. There was a renewed surge in November when access restrictions on the A4 caused queuing on the A316 leading motorists to mistakenly use the restricted roads.

The figures were obtained through a Freedom of Information (FoI) request by local resident Ceinwen Mailvagnam who did her own analysis of the data assuming an average rate paid for the fines of £65. This is consistent with the collection rates for PCNs shown in information released under the FoI Act for similar traffic restrictions in the area.

Her analysis suggests that Hounslow Council brought in £6,876,545 during the year. This is over 5% of the total amount collected in Council Tax.

The numbers supplied by the council did not include the figures for September. Unless there was no enforcement that month it is likely that the total value of fines issued for the year would be over £14,000,000 and the amount collected would exceed £7,000,000.

Source: Hounslow Council/Ceinwen Mailvagnam

A second FoI request by Andrew Jones was responded to by the council at the same time. This sought to confirm the claim made by the One Chiswick campaign group that Hounslow Council should repay £10,000,000 in fines given to 'the carers, nurses and workers of Chiswick' in the first six months of the year.

Cheque for £10million presented at meeting. Picture: Twitter/Jane O'Donnell

The data provided that the total value of PCNs issued on the two roads between January and June 2022 did just exceed £10,000,000 but this assumes that the full rate was paid and includes cancelled and written off fines. Excluding the latter, the 'potential' revenue for the council was £8,783,190 but based on the assumptions made earlier about the average collection rate, the amount collected would actually have been over £4,000,000.

Source: Hounslow Council/Andrew Jones

Source: Hounslow Council/Andrew Jones

The council says that the access restrictions have been successful in reducing the number of cars travelling through the area to reach destinations outside Grove Park and many living in the area support them. Other local residents say that people living in the area, who have no alternative to using a car, are having to take huge detours to reach destinations that were just a short hop previously. There have also been numerous complaints about problems with deliveries, access to car and unwillingness of taxis to pick up or drop off in the area. Local residents' associations are arguing that the camera restrictions be replaced with ANPR cameras that only penalise people driving through the area without stopping.