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Kensington takes on Westfield with free parking for shoppers
Jack Lefley and Katharine Barney19.02.09
THOUSANDS of parking spaces in Kensington and Chelsea are to be free at weekends in response to the recession and competition from the Westfield shopping centre.
Businesses, shops and restaurants in Notting Hill, Kensington High Street, King's Road and Sloane Square have been hit hard by the downturn and the opening of the Shepherd's Bush mall.
Town hall bosses are tonight set to approve all 5,000 pay and display parking bays in Kensington and Chelsea being made free on every Saturday in April.
The council has ordered 800 bags to cover every ticket machine, although it is thought parking will be for a maximum of two hours. The scheme will cost an estimated £300,000 in lost revenue. It marks the latest attempt by the authority to counteract the joint effects of the credit crunch and Westfield. Council chiefs will use little-known legislation to give thousands of residents £50 of their council tax back this April at a cost of £4 million. And they have offered to lend money to new and small businesses that are struggling.
Leader of the council Merrick Cockell said: "This is a first for us and a measure of how seriously we take our businesses and the challenges they are facing. Along with the £50 dividend for our residents this represents a package of really tangible measures to combat the economic climate. We do have a fantastic retail offer here - from the big high street brands to small independent specialists."
The £1.7 billion Westfield centre has attracted millions of shoppers since it opened in October with 265 shops, dozens of restaurants and 4,500 parking spaces.
Businesses in the Kensington High Street area have also been hit by the recent demonstrations outside the Israeli embassy, which saw shops vandalised and temporarily forced to close.
Some stores in the street have shut permanently because of the recession, including French Connection, East and Zavvi, with WH Smith set to close within weeks.
Jewellery designer Isabel Kurtenbach, 38, who runs a boutique in Kensington Church Walk, said: "This is definitely a good idea. The shopping centre has taken a lot of customers away. Parking has been a problem for shoppers in this area for a long time."
If the scheme is a success it could be repeated in future months.
Chairman of Kensington and Chelsea Chamber of Commerce, Vin Jauhal, called for the measure to be extended to weekdays. He said: "Anything that will increase footfall and trade is a good thing right now. Westfield has had an impact along with the downturn and we support any move to help businesses in the borough."
Reader views (15)
So where will all these cars go and what will happen to all the cyclists who currently use this area becuase of the benefits brought about by the c-charge and parking? Well they can always start double parking and block the road completely just like they already do without getting fined.
Anyone who thinks letting 1 car with often 1 person occupy limited roadspace is a solution is living in cloud cookoo land. Afterall they can only eat in 1 resturant at a time much better to encoiurage buses and cyclists who dont block roadspace like the metal boxes motorists carry with them!
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex
Well done. At last a council that is listening. Any chance your councillors could have a word with the councillors from Richmond, where they are not only increasing parking charges but making it very difficult to park. I think you might find customers heading your way from Richmond.
- Mark Mellor, Chiswick
Why not get the supermarkets etc to cover the cost of the parking and perhaps a slight rise in their prices could offset this expenditure. Parking charges have now become a racket operated by local councils in partnership with the parking privateers.
- Awesome Geronimo, Leeds UK
When I worked in the High St Ken/Earls Court Road area, I walked to and from work in summer by foot, to Gloucester Rd, where I used to live. It saved me fares, or parking fines and I exercised.
In winter I took the no.49 bus otside the Odeon cinema to do the same route.
For me, there was no other alternative. The advantage:- I shopped on the way, at Safeways (now Morrisons) or Marks.
- Cath, Reading, Gr
Mr S. Port please read my post more carefully. We are in agreement here.
- Reg, London
This is just a race to the bottom. All car parking should be taxed to discourage it! We need to discourage all car use - not ban it, but make the producers of clamate change gases pay.
- Jay, London
Oh, so now all of a sudden car-parking charges can be scrapped by the councils, when they feel like it.... No surprises there.. As usual, the man/woman in the street is being laughed at again, by councils & the government... They charge you for anything & everything just so that they can keep on increasing their own pay-packets... But when the people decide to stay at home, all of a sudden parking charges can be scrapped... Pathetic!!!
You can take your high street with it's new free-parking & stick it where it fits best (I am sure you will figure out where that is...)!!!
People of the UK: Stand up & fight for yourselves, before you turn into permanent couch-patatoes!
- Greg, London
So if RBKC find they can do without this income, and have enough in reserves to refund taxpayers, perhaps if the charges had never been in force the shops in question would not have closed in the first place?
- Mdj E10, london, uk
At least the Kensington & Chelsea acknowledge theya re in a position to assist local businesses particularly those which support its residents. I now live out of the Borough but have enjoyed Lunch on a Saturday in either Kensington High St or more latterly Notting HIll for the last 45 years. However, in the last ten years it has become less frequent as I do not want the stress of getting a parking ticket, and that was before he recession.
To go shopping and have lunch at least four hours are neeed to really encourage people from outside the area to start using it again.
- Julian Lloyd, Hampstead, London
So now they want to ofer free parking, which means in the past they have been blatantly greedy.
Not just with charging, but ticketing cars.
Too late for me i'm afraid, i'll stick with Westfield, you can stick your high street.
- P Staker, London
Yes, it's a very good idea, but a far better one would be to follow Westminster and offer cashless parking. This would not only make life easier for the shopper but also save the council a fortune emptying and fixing machines.Wake up R.B K & C-this is the 21st century!
- Richard, London
Hopefully other boroughs in the capital will follow suit and help small businesses survive the recession.
Parking in the capital has been a nightmare for many shoppers, we can't all balance our groceries on our bikes Reg. As a driver the choice is a no brainer, park in a mall for a small charge or on the street to help the local shops and risk a £60 ticket.
- Mr S.Port, London
Reg, Why shouldn't a resident be able to park their car with an appropriate permit. What do the citizens of London to do - put their vehicles in their pockets?
- Si, London, UK
Well thats fantasticcccccc, i shall be hopping in my car and driving up to kings road/ on saturdays now for some lunch and a browse. Brilliant idea.. it will work if they advertise it well enough..
- Liza, SW London
A step in the right direction. The massive subsidies of residents' parking also need to be addressed, as they are effectively subsidies of Westfield/supermarket shopping.
Payment for parking on-street anywhere in built up London needs to be rebalanced. You should not be able to store your vehicle in the public realm for just £100 per year. At the same time, it should cost nothing to park for 20 minutes in order to visit a local shop quickly.
How could we accurately measure such visitor parking? Simple. Every driver would have to text the code of their parking space to a number held with the Council. At that point the clock would start ticking. After 20 minutes a reasonable per minute charge, such as 5p to 10p, should kick in, and the maximum stay should be two hours.
An attendant finding a vehicle whose driver had not sent the text at all should have that vehicle towed away, crushed, and recycled into street furniture for the benefit of cyclists and pedestrians, and the driver should be locked up for 30 minutes in stocks in a pavement cutout with the sign "I do not understand the importance of quality of public space to the local community" (that last part was a joke, but the penalty should be reasonably severe).
- Reg, London
