Say residents would pay the costs through Council tax

Southfield Liberal Democrats councillor Gary Malcolm has slammed the local election pledge to reduce parking costs by Ealing's Conservatives which he describes as a "back of a fag packet policy".

The Conservatives have promised that the all day visitors parking permit will be reduced to £2.50 if they are elected to run Ealing Council - a £2.00 decrease on the current £4.50 per day. This would apply to all controlled parking zones in Southfield (including zone R until it moves to two hours of operation).

But councillor Gary Malcolm says he has spoken to council officers about the cost of this and it is "circa £240,000 per annum which the Conservatives would add to the Council bills, which would feed onto the Council Tax bills residents would pay."

It was a "back of a fag packet" policy which they had not properly costed, he said.

"Basically, Ealing Council if run by the Ealing Conservatives will be a bankrupt Council. They are currently delivering a glossy leaflet which talks about a 4 year parking freeze, which both parties agree with, yet they at the same time have changed their policy. Smacks of desperation.

"Clearly residents should not trust the Tories as my party is the only opposition party who have (in each of the last four years) produced financially balanced budget amendments on a range of issues. If the Tories are making up new policies every week then they should not be trusted.

"Clearly the Zone R price will be a maximum of £1.50 when the new changes come into effect so it appears the Tories could be increasing the price for Zone R residents. They could not even implement the changes in time before the Zone R changes come into effect which takes a couple of months due to legal paperwork and the signs being changed."

Southfield Conservatives have responsed to Cllr Malcolm's criticism, saying; "The cost will be substantially reduced as it is certain that the council will sell many more vouchers at the lower price.

"This change will cost very little and it remedies a real unfairness. Raising this charge 4.5 times from £1 makes it very expensive to have carers come in, family visitors or tradesmen working at your home.

"The council wants to charge £4.50 to residents and £2 to commuters near Ealing town centre and busy Tube stations. They have simply got this wrong."

The local elections will be held on May 22nd.

Here is a link to all the information on Southfield Ward including the candidates.

May 8, 2014