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'Without this we would have gone under'
Evening Standard28.11.08
Portobello Road Traders
Cheryl Devlin, 50, from Kensal Rise, works on the fruit and veg stall which has been in her family for 95 years. She threw her arms around the Mayor and kissed him when he announced his decision to axe the charge zone.
She said: "I am absolutely elated. The past five years have been hellish. We've seen our takings drop by about £1,000 a week - about 50 per cent. On top of that we have to bring two vehicles into the zone every day costing another £16. Without this we would go under. I just hope it comes soon enough." But flower stall owners Ronnie Perring, 35 and his wife Caroline, 42, said they had been ruined by the zone. Mr Perring said: "It's too late for us now. The extension killed what used to be a buzzing and vibrant road."
Hammersmith and Fulham Businesses
Karen Spooner, 48, who runs Kensington and Chelsea Property Maintenance, in Fulham, said the decision may have saved her business. She has campaigned against the charge. She said: "We are currently paying about £25,000 a year travelling into K&C and there's no way this could carry on. We are very pleased, but the fact that this might not happen until 2010 has taken the sparkle off the announcement."
Kensington and Chelsea Businesses
Property company owner Leonard Brown, 45, from Elephant and Castle, said he had to drive into Kensington and Chelsea daily. Mr Brown said: "It's a huge relief not to have to pay £8 every day. We have a lot of properties in the area and not driving is not an issue." Colm Gough, 59, owner of Golborne Furniture in North Kensington, said customers had abandoned local furniture and antique shops. He said: "I've been selling furniture here for 40 years and the charge has wrecked all of the businesses. I've thought I might have to fold but hopefully this will save me. You go to places like Wimbledon and see our former customers who are scared away by the £8 charge."
Kensington and Chelsea Residents
Fiona Carretas, 38, a teacher from Notting Hill, said: "It's tremendously good news for the area. When traders suffer we all suffer as they move out or have no money to keep up their properties. No one wants to see empty shops or vibrant areas lose their buzz." Hattie Park, 39, also from Notting Hill, liked the residents' discount: "I have enjoyed the benefits of being able to travel into the central zone without paying the full charge. However I do feel bad for the traders and shopkeepers as it has obviously hurt them. "
Health Campaigners
Neil Churchill, chief executive of Asthma UK, said: "This is a disaster for the 430,000 people in London whose asthma is triggered by traffic pollution. We hope that this short-sighted approach will not jeopardise the whole congestion charging system."
Green Campaigners
Friends of the Earth's Transport Campaigner David Powell said: "The western extension cut carbon dioxide emissions and improved air quality and public transport. The Mayor has promised to make London the greenest capital in the world - he must set out exactly the policies he intends to pursue to make this vision a reality." Green Party Assembly member Jenny Jones said abolishing the zone will cost £70million, which the Mayor says is exaggerated. She said: "The charge has been an incredibly successful method of traffic reduction. This is bad news for anyone travelling in London and everyone who breathes London's air."
Reader views (3)
What utter nonsense. I gave up driving into central London over thirty years ago due to the time wasted in traffic. I regularly go to Portobello Road and the area is served by excellent bus and underground services. The only problem is the roads adjoining the market are a nightmare for buses due to illegal parking.
- Patrick Griffin, Dalston, London
"The extension killed what used to be a buzzing and vibrant road." - so it did significantly reduce car use then, contrary to the many claims that it made no difference and was just a money raiser? And if there really were a lot fewer cars going into the zone, presumably parking was a lot easier for those who did.
"You go to places like Wimbledon and see our former customers who are scared away by the £8 charge." - anyone who wants to drive from North Kensington to Wimbledon to save £8 needs their head examined. But if the claim is true, then perhaps the next headline should be "Wimbledon shops hit hard by removal of western zone CC"!
The reality is that more than a few councils of all persuasions seem intent on destroying high streets by ruthless and inappropriate parking restrictions. My birthplace of Twickenham is a sad shadow of what it was in my childhood - parking and planning restrictions being the key reasons.
- Tonyb, Melbourne, Australia
All businesses need a proportion of their trade to come from visiting motorists. The fact is that small businesses tend to require a much smaller proportion (25% at most) than larger ones such as hypermarkets (usually around 80-90%). Since the Western Zone never prevented hypermarket shoppers from driving for free along the main red routes through the Zone, and tended to discriminate against small businesses within the Zone, it can't have been that environmentally friendly.
Until local government starts to use its planning powers to redress the many imbalances in trading conditions between large and small, moves like this have to be welcomed.
If there was a serious project to reduce car use in the capital, councils would simply limit on-street parking for residents to half the current alloted number across London. There isn't, and they won't.
- Reg, London
