Monday 17 September 2012

CPZ residents pay through the nose for Council Leader's smooth ride

Barnet Council's official line has always been that the CPZ increases were necessary in order to fund road repairs across the borough.  Indeed, according to former Cabinet Member Brian Coleman, the "only way" to pay for upcoming road repairs was to use profits generated by parking.  Presumably it was thought that this would resonate well with the 90% of Barnet  residents who do not live in a CPZ.  Enjoy a top class road surface subsidised by others.

So how is the additional income being spent? Well some of it ended up here, in a quiet residential cul de sac in Totteridge: 

     
Residents of the street report that there was nothing particularly wrong with the road before it was resurfaced, particularly given the tiny volume of traffic in a street with around 30 houses which only leads to a dead end. 

The road isn't in a CPZ, so residents don't face having to fork out £48 or more in parking charges should they chose to have a child's birthday party at home. Or £250 should a relative visit for the summer. 

It's also the road where Council Leader Richard Cornelius lives with his wife, herself a Conservative Councillor.    

The cost of this lavish treatment: £32,789. Or looking at it another way, about £3 for every CPZ household in Barnet. But not Mr & Mrs Cornelius.