Protecting parking spaces for residents
by Hammersmith and Fulham Press Office
06/11/2008
A drive to protect parking spaces for local residents and businesses has been launched by the council.
Motorists from outside H&F, who try to fraudulently claim parking permits, are being caught by tougher council rules.
With an ever increasing pressure on the limited amount of parking space in H&F the council has come to the rescue of hard-pressed local drivers by tightening up its parking permit checks.
The borough is the fourth smallest in London and officially has the most congested roads in London meaning parking permits are a valuable commodity.
Since the council firmed up its rules dozens of permit cheats have been snared, freeing up space for genuine motorists. Chancers with no insurance or vehicle registration documents have tried to get permits and one cheat had the nerve to apply for a permit before admitting he couldn’t drive properly and did not have a driving licence.
Another fraudster produced a statutory off road notification, or SORN, to try to prove he deserved a permit. SORN’s are only issued to drivers who promise that their vehicle is solely used on private land and never on public roads. The permit was refused.
Councillor Nicholas Botterill, Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “This council wants to protect our valuable parking spaces for local residents and businesses. The only way we can do this is by tightening up our checks to clampdown on the cheats. We have done this by closing some of the loop-holes and bringing our checks more in line with other councils.
“This is already helping us to prevent fraud and ensure that only genuine residents and businesses are issued with a permit.”
The council has won awards for its customer friendly approach to motorists and won a National Computing Award for Innovation for its online permits renewal system.
There are different types of permits and strict criteria governing their issue. If you are a resident or run a business in a controlled parking zone, you may be eligible to apply. For more information click on www.lbhf.gov.uk/parking or call 0845 803 1020.
