News from Westminster Labour

Westminster Council ignores parking consultation to raise an extra £7 million

Evening and Sunday parking charge plans provoke unprecedented coalition of opposition.

Westminster Council’s plans to raise an extra £7 million a year by introducing parking charges on Sundays and after 6.30pm, from Monday to Saturday, in order to fill its empty coffers, has provoked an unprecedented coalition of opposition, including the West End’s theatres, musicians, actors, galleries, West End stores and churches of every Christian denomination. Even the Conservative Carlton Club and The Ritz Hotel have voiced their strong opposition to the Council’s plans which will be rubber-stamped at the Council’s Cabinet meeting on 1st August.

And a late ‘concession’ by the Council to start the Sunday parking regime at 12 noon has been rejected by West End churches as being of no assistance. Michael Beckett, Church Warden at St George’s, Hanover Square, has told Councillors;

“A 12 Noon start for parking charges on a Sunday is of no use to ANY of the churches in the West End. Most main Sunday services start at 11am and finish around 12.15 to 12.30pm. Anyone who parks on a single yellow line at 10.45 prior to a service will have a ticket on their windscreen (£100) when the service ends. The number of payable parking bays around all churches is inadequate. Farm Street has 3 payable bays, St George’s 12 bays, Salvation Army 4 bays, etc.. Without the availability of free parking on single yellow lines there is insufficient space for congregations to park, and they are not causing any congestion in so doing. This is irrespective of the very high charges of £4.40 per hour, only a pound less than the minimum wage, which in itself will be a deterrent to many worshippers, even if they can find a payable parking space. Some churches, Farm Street and the Salvation Army in particular, will be even more affected. They hold services from 8.30am to 6pm every Sunday, and their core workers and staff need to be present, along with their large congregations which arrive throughout the day.”

Labour Councillors say that musicians and actors will be faced with a bill of £100 a week extra to work in the West End, while many church goers will have to pay an extra £27 in Sunday parking charges.

Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group, said; “Westminster Council has managed to achieve the impossible in provoking an unprecedented coalition of opposition to its latest money-grabbing parking plans. When the Carlton Club and The Ritz join forces with the trade unions, the churches, theatres and West End stores, then everything points to ‘car crash’ decision by Westminster Conservatives.

“The Conservatives have ignored the responses to the consultation from West End theatres, musicians and stores about the impact that Sunday and evening parking charges will have on the West End economy and the success of the entertainment and hospitality industries.”

“The only reason the Conservatives can get away with this ‘highway robbery’ is because the people who are affected don’t have a vote in Westminster elections so can’t throw them out at the next elections. This is a cynical money-grabbing move by Westminster Conservatives who have been using people who drive to the West End as a ‘cash point’ for decades”.

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