C-charge chaos revealed
by Hammersmith and Fulham Press Office
15/07/2008
SPIRALLING parking problems on the edge of the congestion charge zone could be reversed, if residents vote to scrap the western extension.
Transport for London(TfL) plans to ask residents whether the western extension of the congestion charge zone should be ‘improved or removed’ in a five week consultation starting in September.
The announcement comes as figures reveal commuter bay-blocking in some Hammersmith & Fulham parking zones is getting worse.
A probe by Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council proves that commuters, looking to dodge the congestion charge, have taken to parking near the edge of the zone, before finishing their journey into central Londonon public transport.
One of the worst hit areas is around Baron’s Court and West Kensingtontube stations. The streets around the two District Line stations have seen a significant increase in pay and display parking since the western extension was imposed in February 2007.
Councillor Nicholas Botterill, H&F Council Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, says: “This research proves that there has been a definite increase in the use of pay and display parking bays. You cannot blame people for wanting to avoid the £8 charge, but one of the side effects of the extension is that it is pushing central London congestion onto previously peaceful, residential west London streets.”
Last month the council newspaper, H&F News, reported that small businesses – like estate agents, dry-cleaners and florists – are losing thousands of pounds a year to make trips of less than a mile thanks to the extension. It now appears that the invisible-toll barrier is not just stifling trade but is also dividing communities by preventing residents accessing local services and stopping commuters driving to work.
Cllr Botterill continues, “The western extension is west London’s Berlin Wall. It has cut families off from each other. It has cut businesses off from their customers. And to rub salt in the wound, we now find it is cutting workers off from their jobs and clogging up our parking bays in the process.”
Unlike people inside the extended zone, businesses and residents in H&F are not eligible for a discount. This means that, for the past 18 months, H&F residents have been forced to fork out £8 every time they’ve done the school run, visited the hospital or had to access other basic local services.
The extension, which cost £123 million to put in, covers Kensington, Chelsea, Bayswater, Notting Hill, Pimlico and Belgravia. Two days before the zone doubled, on 19 February 2007, hundreds of protestors took to the streets in a ‘go slow’ to demonstrate against the extension.
Businessman Hothi Sukh says: “The extension should be removed. I have a work van that I cannot drive home because of the congestion charge and I have a car at home that I cannot sue to get to the business in. In the weekend I have to park the van at the metre because I cannot drive it home.”
People who live within the congestion zone get a 90 per cent discount, unlike H&F residents and businesses who get nothing.
Leading campaigner against the congestion charge David Tarsh, says, “The congestion charge zone extension has encouraged commuters to view our streets as a car park. It is no coincidence that spaces around Baron’s Court and West Kensingtontube stations are being targeted, given their direct links to central London.
“TfL needs to see the big picture rather than fighting some sort of war against car drivers. They have blocked the capillaries of Londonwith ‘traffic calming’ measures like bollards and speed humps. This has forced local traffic onto the main arteries, which then get clogged up. The trick is to get the traffic flowing again by looking at things like the phasing of traffic lights, rather than simply pricing people out of their cars.”
Anyone with an opinion on the western extension can air their views in the consultation but TfL has said it is particularly keen to hear from local residents, retailers and businesses within or on the borders of the extension. TfL are expected to release further details on the consultation later in the summer.
Cllr Botterill concluded: “The people who are paying the highest price for this failed scheme are residents just outside the zone. We will continue to be penalised until we consign this failed experiment to the history books.
