Resident who launched petition of 2,800 signatures slams process as 'a joke'

A sign held up at the recent protest against the plan on Acton Green

The organiser of a petition to scrap Ealing Council's proposed CPZ changes says the process is "a joke" following a Council decision to go ahead and implement the charges.

Simon Hayes was speaking after Ealing Council dismissed the petition last night and decided to go ahead with the controversial new charges which will affect residents living in the Ealing Council controlled part of Chiswick.

The Council plans to increase resident parking permit charges in Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) by up to 60 per cent from this autumn, as well as introduce shared use parking bays in the zones which would enable commuters to drive in and park in the borough for as little as £4.50 a day. Owners of diesel vehicles will be given a £50 surcharge.

Petition organiser, Simon Hayes, had claimed that the response, which has seen some 2,800 residents object to the scheme, showed that the Council should rethink its plans.

Simon Hayes speaks at the Council meeting;
Image from Twitter courtesy of Cllr Dabrowska

In its draft transport plan the Council claims it will raise an extra £500,000 from the new sliding scale of charges. However, Mr Hayes is adamant that the Council are not entitled to use the scheme to raise extra funds.

The issue was debated at a full Ealing Council meeting last night (Tuesday July 24).

Following the decision to go ahead with the charges, Mr Hayes said: ‘I can’t believe that our elected representatives – particularly those on the Labour benches – are so uninterested in the views of almost 3,000 voters in the borough. These are not just people who are affected by the CPZ charge but people from across the board, of all political persuasions.

‘The Council are riding roughshod over voters. This was not publicised during the May elections, and what they are doing in trying to raise an extra £500,000 from CPZ permit holders is unlawful. There is statute and case law that forbids using such permit schemes as methods of raising revenue. Otherwise there would be nothing to stop them charging £1000 a pop.

Cllr Bassam Mahfouz defended the changes to CPZ charges, claiming it was a measure designed to reduce pollution and save lives. He said 400 lives a year were lost in Ealing due to pollution.

Mr Hayes disagreed. He said: ‘The Transport Strategy will have next to no impact on pollution levels in the Borough. CPZ residents pay for permits so they can park in their roads. Most of the time their cars are not being used, so don’t pollute.

‘At the same as telling Council Tax payers they must get rid of their cars they are actively soliciting commuters to drive into the borough to pay £4.50 a day to use shared use parking bays. It’s a joke.

‘The real cause of pollution is the clogged arterial routes running through the borough, with traffic flows slowed to a snail’s pace by frequent roadworks and poor road layouts. I haven’t heard anyone on the Labour benches coming up with any ideas to deal with the hundreds of thousands of those vehicles passing through Ealing every day.'

Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors spoke in favour of the petition.

Walpole ward Labour councillor, Paul Conlan, claimed the Transport Strategy would force people in affluent wards, such as Chiswick and Ealing, to trade in their cars for less polluting models and they shouldn’t complain about paying more for a permit. He claimed that permit prices will go down for some people.

Mr Hayes responded, ‘It’s all very well telling us to buy new cars but the fact is that a £20,000 electric vehicle is beyond most people I know at the moment. We aren’t complaining about paying for permits, we ARE complaining about the process by which this is being done, but none of the Labour councillors has the spine to stand up for the people who voted for them.

We have requested comment from Ealing Council.

July 27, 2018