Barnet CPZ Action

Let the Government know what you think of Barnet's parking policies

The Transport Select Committee of the House of Commons has issued a consultation asking what people think about local authority parking policies. We suspect there may be a disproportionate response from Barnet residents.

Anyone can submit their views but this will need to be done by Monday 25 March.  Details of the consultation can be found here. 
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/transport-committee/news/parking-enforcement---tor/

Among the issues that Barnet residents may wish to raise are:

• The unfairness of CPZ residents being held to ransom by huge increases in permit charges, knowing that the council is deliberately creating a huge financial surplus in order to  help pay for travel passes and road resurfacing for the whole borough. 
• The folly of removing all cash pay and display ticket machines, making the simple act of parking to pop into a shop inconvenient and confusing for many people.
• Hiking high street parking charges to levels more suited to city centres or inner London boroughs. This has been done at a time when other councils (such as Haringey) are introducing free parking for short periods in order to support their high streets.

Whatever your views, it's important that they are heard. Please find 30 minutes before 25 March in order to take part.

Don't forget: You can now buy half day visitor vouchers

Under pressure from angry residents, the Council introduced half day visitor vouchers last year at a cost of £2.20 each. Still VERY expensive but better than the absurd flat charge of £4.16 for a standard voucher!  Residents in zones which operate for just one or two hours a day will now only need these cheaper vouchers.

But reports reach us that residents are having difficulty selecting these cheaper vouchers when they apply online or on the phone. We are trying to get to the bottom of what the problem is but it may be that Barnet's clunking IT system has residents registered as being entitled to all day vouchers and is defaulting to that.  We will update you when we know more but in the meantime, if you only need half day vouchers, make sure you don't pay the full price. Call 020 8359 7446 if in doubt.