Drivers will pay to park outside homes if 'majority' agree (From Enfield Independent)

Drivers will pay to park outside Edmonton homes if 'majority' agree with Enfield Borough Council Controlled Parking Zone proposals

5:20pm Tuesday 15th January 2013 in News By Hermione Wright

A politician is urging Edmonton people to have their say about controversial plans to charge people to park in front of their homes.

Councillor Chris Bond, Cabinet Member for Environment, is working with Enfield Borough Council to come up with proposals to introduce 'controlled parking zones' in an area home to 20,000 people.

Plans, which are under consultation until Monday January 28, will mean affected households would pay up to £120 a year for permits to park outside their homes, and businesses would have to pay £660 a year to park each vehicle.

Cllr Bond said: "Residents have told us that there are problems parking in the Edmonton Green area which is why the proposals to implement the zone in Edmonton came about.

“However we acknowledge the zones are often a cause of controversy for residents, which is why we always give residents the opportunity to participate in the decision as to whether to adopt these schemes.

"We will only introduce a controlled parking zone in an area in which the majority of respondents support it.”

People on streets including Kingsmead Avenue, Elstree Gardens and Lion Road would have to pay to park outside their homes between 9am and 6.30pm each day.

The authority, which claims it will make little money from the system due to the high operating costs, extended the consultation by six weeks to give more people a chance to respond.

The Labour politician said the council will look carefully at all the responses to the consultation and base the decision on whether to bring in the zones on the wishes of the majority of the residents.

Traders including Erin Selebi, who has run Star Plumbing Supplies in Bounces Road for 13 years, told the Enfield Independent yesterday that the zone would “kill” the area by preventing customers without permits from parking near to shops.

She is worried people will not be able to afford permits to park outside their homes, and said it will be difficult for people living outside Edmonton to visit relatives.