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Don't do it: Boris Johnson parking fees plea
Peter Dominiczak, Benedict Moore-Bridger and Jonathan Prynn2 Dec 2011
Boris Johnson today called on Westminster council to abandon plans for a "nightlife tax" on central London after other cities warned of parking fees' disastrous economic impact.
The Mayor demanded a rethink as businesses across Britain said weekend and evening charges had hit trade.
Westminster leader and hedge fund millionaire Colin Barrow has cited regional centres such as Nottingham and Stoke, as well as international cities including New York, as successful examples of places where drivers already have to pay to park at night.
But the Standard found the charges in other cities are being blamed for a downturn in business - and Stoke MP told Westminster: "Don't do it."
Our research also shows the parking fees elsewhere are less expensive and widespread than those proposed for the West End.
The Mayor told the Standard that Mr Barrow "needs to think again". He wenton: "What he needs to do is look at the effect this is having in other places. He needs to look at economic impacts in other cities."
His words were echoed by the Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent, Tristram Hunt, who said: "My advice to Westminster is don't do it."
Council leaders plan to abolish free parking on single yellow lines in the West End after 6.30pm and on Sunday afternoons from January. They say it is a bid to ease evening congestion. But the proposals have been met with outrage from Government ministers, London's biggest employers, Church leaders, restaurateurs and unions.
They have condemned the measure as a revenue-raising raid on motorists that will devastate areas such as Soho, Covent Garden and Mayfair.
In Manhattan, the city centre that the West End most closely resembles, traders said it would be "crazy" to follow the council plan. Despite Mr Barrow's claims, free parking can still be widely found in the evenings in New York, even close to theatres in Broadway.
Antiques appraiser Joe Cerutti, 58, said: "This would be terrible, crazy. Nobody would go for it. I hope New York doesn't follow London on this."
Nicky Perry, who runs the British tea shop Tea And Sympathy in Greenwich Village, said: "To charge that kind of money they have to be idiots. People would go mad if they tried that in New York. People drive in to go shopping and buy things in the city they can only get in the city. If you charged them $7 or $8 then that would be it. I'd have to close up and move back to London."
Some districts such as Greenwich Village do have meter charges of $5 an hour up to 10pm, compared with the £4.80 ($7.50) up to midnight that Westminster wants on the busiest nights.
But in other areas where there is metered parking in the evening, such as some streets around Times Square, there are also free places.
The Standard found free parking after 7pm on a number of cross streets just a short walk from Broadway. Close to the trendy Meatpacking District there is free parking after 6pm and all day at weekends on Horatio Street between Greenwich Street and Washington Street.
Evening charges of £1 after 6pm were introduced in Stoke in April last year and have been held largely responsible for putting people off coming into the city centre. Stoke council leader Mohammed Pervez said the evening and weekend charges were essential to raise revenue because of Government cuts, a motivation that Westminster's administration has always strongly denied.
Mr Pervez said: "We face huge financial challenges and one of the ways we can raise revenue to maintain services is through parking charges.
"Obviously we look at everything to make sure savings can be made but it is important to generate income as things are only going to get tougher. But we are fully aware that raising prices too high could have a detrimental effect on town centre retail."
Stoke City Independent leader David Conway said the charges were "killing the city" and widely hated. He said: "It is just another reason not to go into the city when you have to pay for parking everywhere."
Emma Bridgewater, the pottery entrepreneur who started her business in Brixton but is now one of Stoke's largest private employers, said the charges were "hugely detrimental" to the city's economy.
She said: "Businesses are struggling to survive and need all the help they can get. All councillors should be trying to get people into shops and it (the parking system) is the opposite of that.
"Stoke is an economic disaster area and this is just another nail in the coffin for an area struggling for its life."
View from Stoke: "these extra charges have made it a ghost town - it is just dead"
Aves Panithi, 65, has been running his restaurant Robertos in Stoke for the past 31 years.
He said: "In the past, people would wait until after 6pm to come, get some food, see a show, because of the charges. Especially older people, they really look after their pounds. Now these extra charges have come in, it is noticeable there are fewer people. It feels like the council does not want people coming to the town, it is a ghost town - it is just dead."
Jobi Jose, 35, newsagent in the town centre, said: "People are struggling, it is tough times and they are just trying to get as much money out of people as possible."
Nina Smith, 42, sales director for the Quality Hotel in the centre of Stoke-on-Trent, said the parking charges were having a negative impact on the hospitality industry.
She said: "It is hard enough in hospitality to attract people to pay the hotel rates, so when you tell them they have to pay for parking as well in town it's even worse.
"We totally disagree with the charges and it does nothing to attract people into Stoke."
View from New York: "I hope we don't follow London on this"
Restaurateur Nello Balan, who runs Nello in midtown Manhattan, said that a $7.50 an hour evening charge (the dollar equivalent of the £4.80 proposed by Westminster council) was "madness".
He said: "I've been to London many times and this would be bad for the city. Sometimes New York follows London and I hope we don't with this one. It is not good for business and will stop people from driving in. I don't know what they are thinking - maybe they want us to go back to using carriages instead of cars.
"I don't think Westminster have thought this through. It would be stupid to charge that much".
Actor Shauna Miles, 32: "If it cost almost $8 an hour to park, there is no way I'd ever drive in. It's a really bad idea. I can't imagine anybody would be stupid enough to try it out."
Bartender Jillian Cody, 26: "It's just another kick in the face for drivers. There's no way I'd drive if it cost that much to park."
Restaurant and bar manager Carolina Gutierrez, 32, left: "It would hurt small businesses. Things have already been tough with the recession and this would be the last thing a city needs."
Reader views (37)
Surely Stoke and Westminister aren't equivalent examples!
- arif merali, streatham, 05/12/2011 15:56
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How do you schlep a drum kit to town?
- ginger, Arizona USA, 05/12/2011 06:00
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Dont do it Boris dont put up TFL fares by more than the increase levied in extra fuel duty on motorists!!
Typical Boris cares nowt about ordinary Londoners most of whom have no need to even own a car if the live in Central London.
Perhaps Boris should install more Boris Bike stations around Westminster and motorist can the park outside and cycle in!
So why no comments from the West London residents Association?
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex, 04/12/2011 16:49
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I don't drive into central london so I don't care about anyone else, because I'm a bit selfish and blickered like that.
I think the best way to solve any problem is to price out the poor through taxes and I don't really mind that councils seem to spend this money on rubbish projects that people don't really want, while the roads are falling apart and public transport is so useless late at night.
The fact that there are huge numbers of off-street car parks in London with empty spaces but ridiculously high charges doesn't really bother me at all, because I have so little appreciation of London parking that it's laughable.
Anyone protesting about this stuff is probably just jealous of something or someone or knows a hippy or hates cyclists or something stereotypical like that.
- cliche, London, UK, 03/12/2011 19:58
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Free parking for Germans - we run Europe now and you must obey us!
- Wilheim, London, 03/12/2011 14:40
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I still cant understand where people are supposed to PARK in the west end,its a nightmare on foot let alone trying to find a spot to park your car!
- mark, U.K. : LONDON : Kensington, 03/12/2011 12:43
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This just shows how ineffective Boris Johnson is as Mayor. Why bother having him if his influence is negligible?
- joanark, London, 03/12/2011 11:40
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Our council recently instituted evening and weekend charges, which have been a real financial burden, but at least they left the yellow line parking free and open. Perhaps Westminster could at least compromise and charge for marked spaces, but leave yellow line parking free after 6.30. Also, all the people who say there is adequate public transport: there simply isn't, especially in the later evening, and even more so if you don't live in London.
- Allison A, Oxford, UK, 03/12/2011 01:26
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Westminster Council has a sorry record - remember Shirley Porter and her ethnic (ie working class) cleansing policy on council housing? I suggest anyone in doubt about the ethical vacuum that persists on the Tory benches, should attend a Westminster Council meeting - it's a case of zombies figuring out ways to strip the cash off the people they are supposed to serve. On this issue, Boris has got it dead right.
- ALEX, London, 02/12/2011 22:24
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JXM.
I play Double Bass and a Sousaphone in a Trad Jazz Band down west, I have to hump my own gear...on the BUS?????
- Joe Jones, Leicester UK, 02/12/2011 21:46
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Nigel, Lee Rowley (aged 31 and three quarters) is the genius encouraging Barrows to do this. He gave up his borough wide free parking permit especially to put this one through, and genuinely thinks that when the fuss has died down he'll be able to quietly re-instate it. Barrows and Rowley are ex bankers, so basically couldn't give a monkeys for other peoples livelihoods. However, what they are both starting to realize by now is their political careers are over. Green activists and WCC propagandists are fooling nobody with their posts here. Local Tories, deselect the supporters of these two immediately.
- Dave, London, 02/12/2011 21:05
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Re: Headhunter, London
People are worked up because it's an illegal levy, designed to illegally fill a hole in their budget, that they're forcing through under the guise of populist environmental sentiment.
Motorists might not be the sole key to business success but their absence would certainly have a negative impact at an inopportune time.
It's also a matter of principle. Putting aside people's standpoints on congestion/environment (neither of which will actually be eased by this measure, by the way) this is specific targeting of a minority which, as usual, hits the working/middle classes hardest.
Anybody other than drivers (who, it seems, in some people's minds are the epitome of evil) and such deliberate ransoming would be condemned.
It stands to reason that such unscrupulous Council profiteering will eventually also target all those who wish to see drivers punished. I wonder if they'll still be so desperate to see people forced to pay for local councils' improvidence then.
If proof were needed that this has nothing to do with congestion then why charge anything at all? If the aim is to reduce congestion, get people using public transport and there'll be no impact on the local economy then just buy some red paint and make parking illegal. Right?
Or could it be they don't care about congestion? Maybe they know that a lack of motorists WOULD affect the economy? And they just want to install a nice little earner to cover their self-inflicted deficit?
Hmmm...
- Gary, Balham, 02/12/2011 20:38
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@JXM, Bromley, 02/12/2011 17:04
Apart from those travelling late at night where public transport is either non-existent, irregular, impractical or dangerous. For those who travel long distances paying for a cab is too expensive and arranging for one every other night is inconvenient.
If you think stopping private cars will make travelling on public transport more pleasant you must have a screw loose. It would simply mean they were busier and even further over-capacity.
The last Tubes from the West End at night tend to be rammed and/or full of drunks. The same is true of buses and trains. Any time I use public transport in and around the West End it's unpleasant not because of how slow it is, but how busy it is. You think forcing more people to use these services will make them better? Good one!
- Rob, London, 02/12/2011 19:36
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Go ahead Westminster! I simply don't understand why everyone is so worked up about this. I have been spending money in central London at theatres, restaurants, bars etc for over 10 years and have never, not once, felt the need to drive. There are plenty of transport alternatives, if you insist on driving then be prepared to cough up for the convenience whilst you clog up the roads for everyone else. Why on earth is everyone so convinced that motorists in central London are the key to business success in the West End?!
- Headhunter, London, 02/12/2011 19:05
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What a joker Boris is - maybe if he didn't raise tube fares so much and did something to regulate all the cycle-cabs cluttering up the West End, parking where they want, Westminster wouldn't have to do it.
- Tom, Pimlico, 02/12/2011 19:02
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Just goes to show that these dim whitted half witts have never run a business in their lives but are very good about telling other people how to. I assume that people that work for this council have parking permits!
- Nigel, Southampton, 02/12/2011 18:44
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Councils are not allowed to raise money from parking charges for anything else save to maintain traffic management, so the comment from Mr Pervez the Council Leader appear to be condoning illegal action.
Excluding Stoke Westminster could raise it rates and square the circle but for dogma it won't.
Westminster Council and its leader should be wound up under actions that may create public disorder.
John Jones comments appear to be those of someone who doesn't run a business. Run this demented plan for a year and how many more businesses will throw the towel in.
Cars are an integral part of our society and the sooner councils stop discriminating against them the better.
Like Mr Osborne, Mr Barrow clearly comes from another planet where the concerns of the individual are irrelevant because they do not have their feet under the power table.
Westminster is a hybrid in that it's not just for residents but for the whole Country, therefore local concerns have to be put into perspective.
Conservative councillors in Wetsminster seem to believe they will get re-elected in perpetuity, we can only hope they are wiped out at the next vote and their constituents will not forgive them for this unnecessary bolshy act of stupidity.
- Robert Marshall, London, 02/12/2011 18:10
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No-one needs to drive in central London. There are plenty of alternatives - bus, tube,train,foot, taxi. Stop as many private cars as possible and all of the above will be faster and more pleasant alternatives.
- JXM, Bromley, 02/12/2011 17:04
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"Surely the best solution is to try these charges for a year then evaluate.- John Jones, Westminster"
And at the end of the year WestMonster will double them, so that they can rack in even more cash to waste on mini-roundabouts and on further narrowing of existing roads, thus creating more traffic jams and pollution.
Westminster council is a criminal racket, not a public authority.
- John Smith, London, EUSSR, 02/12/2011 16:30
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Why would anyone want to go into Stoke-on-Trent in the evening. Can't imagine anything worse. And anyway, you can't compare small towns like this with London. You can get taxis to and from home in places like that for a fiver whereas cabs charge a fortune now in London. And because London is so dangerous, people with cars will always want to use them to protect against getting stabbed or beaten up. Has this Westminster richie ever been on a night bus lately? Why are so many people in power in Britain who have no idea how 'ordinary' people live? At least Boris gets on a bike.
- D Shaw, London, 02/12/2011 16:21
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@John Jones, Westminster, 02/12/2011 15:21
Or they could put Council Tax up by a negligible amount. Then they wouldn't affect businesses or have to remove any services. Just a thought.
- Rob, London, 02/12/2011 15:57
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send colin barlow to asylum and throw the keys away after locking him up
- ll, ipswich uk, 02/12/2011 15:53
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It can cost £7 day for workers to park there car in the town centre of Hanley!it might not sound allot compared to London standards,but over 5 days it adds up to a days pay for Stoke on trents low page workers,that why outlying areas where they have demolitions whole community under mass clearance the so call regeneration program!but now have no money to rebuild the areas because of governments cuts!this is now where the workers park there cars?well the one's that can still afford to drive.
- john, stoke on trent, 02/12/2011 15:28
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Surely the best solution is to try these charges for a year then evaluate.
If there has been a serious effect on business then they could be reduced or removed.
I would rather WCC raise money from motorists rather than cut services to the elderly in the Borough.
- John Jones, Westminster, 02/12/2011 15:21
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Boris. If you want to be Mayor for the next 4 years you better persuade Burrow & his cromies to change their mind otherwise I and I know many others will not vote for you
- hunter, london, 02/12/2011 15:15
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Barrow's going to be bloodyminded and do it anyway because the man is an idiot, we know it, business knows it and even Boris knows it.....I suspect that he knows it as well but is too idiotic to understand it.
- Joe Jones, Leicester UK, 02/12/2011 15:00
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The public sector want their money! Come on isnt it the duty of every private citizen to give it to them ?
- Fulhamite, Fulham, 02/12/2011 14:55
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Um Boris? Can it really be true that your are BRINGING YOUR INFLUENCE TO BEAR ON A LOCAL COUNCIL?
Funny that, you said you couldn't do that when it was the motorbikes being fleeced by WCC, and now they are charging 4 wheeled vehicles in an unfair manner you're all over it...
Here's a suggestion, get on to them about the bike tax while you're at it and really show you've got an ounce of common sense left in you.
- C, London, 02/12/2011 13:39
^^ what he said !!! Where were you Boris when it was motorbikes
- KBD, Soviet State of Westminster, 02/12/2011 14:27
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@Herceg and Fred
What you are forgetting is that vast majority of people working late shifts in Westminster are not well paid and rely on cars for commuting (as they tend to live outside London where late public transport is non existent) or they need cars to ferry tools/musical instruments/other gear to and from place of work. It just shows that you are so narrow minded that you think this is all about rich Westminster residents and rich people who can afford to drive/park in Westminster.
- Ballistic, London, 02/12/2011 13:50
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Um Boris? Can it really be true that your are BRINGING YOUR INFLUENCE TO BEAR ON A LOCAL COUNCIL?
Funny that, you said you couldn't do that when it was the motorbikes being fleeced by WCC, and now they are charging 4 wheeled vehicles in an unfair manner you're all over it...
Here's a suggestion, get on to them about the bike tax while you're at it and really show you've got an ounce of common sense left in you.
- C, London, 02/12/2011 13:39
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@Fred your comment "tax on those rich enough to keep a car in London" is very misguided - I (and many others) drive into London because it's the most cost effective way of getting there. Am far from rich, driving a car that cost £500 and unable absurd charges just to park so I can meet a friend for coffee in the evening or go for a meal with friends. I don't live near a tube station or train station.
I agree with your suggestion to pedestrianise certain areas, expecially Oxford Street, but there is still room for plenty of people to park.
Don't forget also that the tubes are packed late in the evening - if Westminster get their way this will get even worse, so noone benefits.
- Ste, London, 02/12/2011 13:37
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why do they always have to raise taxes and fee. Start to save money . Stop waiting it ..
- Michael, Cheshunt, 02/12/2011 13:29
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Straight from the horses mouth - Stoke council leader Mohammed Tervez said the evening and weekend charges were essential to raise revenue because of Government cuts, a motivation that Westminster's administration has always strongly denied.
And billionaire Barrow still claims this isn't the case where Westminster Council is concerned?
He's a liar.
- Baron von Richtofen, Biggin Hill, 02/12/2011 13:28
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Westminster are being terribly selfish. They have turned lots of parking spaces into residents parking zone. They don't want the rest of London to enjoy the delights of the West End.
Every council should have parking policy taken away from it and decisions made by an independent body.
- L.A., London, 02/12/2011 13:20
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Well, it's not like you MUST bring your car into the west-end, the centre of London is awash buses route's and tube line's. Park your car at an outer tube station and catch the train, it's faster & millions of us do it for work everyday.
- Herceg, London, 02/12/2011 13:14
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Shopping - who cares most people have enough useless items.
- Charly, London, 02/12/2011 13:12
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If it's more trade you want, why not pedestrianise the West End and Soho, and Oxford Street.
It's the grim traffic and pollution at all hours of the day and night that keeps people away, not the price of parking...
('nightlife tax'... very funny. tax on those rich enough to keep a car in London, perhaps..)
- fred, london, 02/12/2011 12:39
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