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When I first moved to Acton last year, I was relieved to discover that the area isn't as run down as I expected. Churchfield Road, in particular, is a lovely street, boasting a sizable park at one end, a beautifully maintained railway station in the middle and an array of excellent shops, including Pearls Drycleaners, Paint and Central Heat. My favourite is probably Vanilla, an "ethical" coffee shop that does a great line in cakes, sandwiches and waffles.
Imagine my despair, therefore, when I discovered that Vanilla is about to close. Other local businesses, too, are circling the drain. And when they go under, they won't be replaced. At present, there are nine vacant shops in Churchfield Road and what was once Acton's premier shopping street is beginning to resemble downtown Detroit.
"We are returning to a rundown part of the borough we all worked so hard to regenerate over the past 20 years," says Sonny Masson, the owner of Paint.
It isn't the credit crunch that's putting these shops out of business, but Ealing council's over-zealous enforcement of the local parking laws. Last year, for instance, I got a ticket for leaving my car in a loading bay while I dropped off my dry cleaning at Pearls. I would have parked in one of the two stop-and-shop bays opposite, but they were both occupied by a large white van - a parking enforcement van, as it turned out.
Not only is this van constantly circling the area, causing precisely the disruption to traffic flow that the parking laws are designed to prevent, but Ealing council has now seen fit to mount a fixed CCTV camera opposite the railway station. The upshot is that anyone who pulls over to nip into one of the local shops will almost certainly receive a £50 penalty notice.
"I wonder if the council is aware that all of us here refund regular customers for the parking tickets because we know we just can't afford to lose them at the moment," says Sonny Masson.
Mr Masson and other local shopkeepers submitted a petition to a council meeting bearing hundreds of signatures and the councillors promised to look into the problem. But less than a week later the parking enforcement van was back, squatting in the stop-and-shop bays like a malevolent toad.
"If it carries on like this, we're all going to go out of business," says Mish Taank, the owner of Pearls Drycleaners. "One of my customers received a ticket in 32 seconds. Surely there should be some flexibility?"
This isn't a problem confined to Acton. All over London, shops are being put out of business by rapacious local councils using CCTV to ambush their customers. Unless they start playing fair, streets like Churchfield Road will soon become uninhabitable ghettos.
Reader views (19)
Well, well, well, this is like what happened to me, late at night when parking restrictions of hours are not even clearly marked to catch you out ofcourse. parking fines are creepy muppets after your money by confussion.
- Rashid egyptian, London UK, 21/06/2010 12:01
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Is it not an offence to park a camera van on yellow lines, and then to issue tickets to peaple who do the same.If the camera van is commiting an offence ?
- Darren, Acton, London, 05/05/2009 17:19
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Good idea, walk everywhere. And then you will really be taken aback by the vandalism of our streets jam packed with warning and information signs, telling us which way to point ourselves, how fast to go, humps on the roads, cut down over hanging branches, poison any 'weeds', get cars off the road and into what were once front gardens, and let the traffic flow quicker, never mind that it is not 'local' traffic, but mad drivers on their way from somewhere else to somewhere else. Anyone who voted labour, voted for all this. Wait for the neighbourhood traffic patrol waiting to catch you out, either on your feet or in your car.
- Helen, norwich, 15/04/2009 15:35
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Just an idea, but, if the shops are local, why don't you try walking to them? One of the biggest traffic problems in London is people making unnecessary journeys - silly women driving their kids to a school that's around the corner, blocking the roads with their 4x4s; people driving to the local shop to pick up their dry cleaning... it's laziness, pure and simple. If you walk you might shift some weight too.
- Neil, London, UK, 26/03/2009 13:54
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It was just the same in my former home town, Twickenham, with, for example, wardens handing out tickets at 6.25p.m. on a Saturday to get their bonuses. The fix is simple: make councils pay for parking enforcement from their own budgets with all the penalties going to central government. At which point councils will be falling over themselves deciding just how little enforcement is necessary to ensure safety.
- Tonyb, Melbourne, Australia, 24/03/2009 09:37
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One more reason why I feel justified in screwing up parking fine and bailiffs' letters and throwing them in the bin.
- Madmax, London, UK, 24/03/2009 07:41
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Trying to fight that the restrictions are enforced will go nowhere: go instead to the highways department and ask for the restrictions to be changed.
- George Erics, England, UK, 24/03/2009 05:58
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So right Toby, how depressing...common sense is in its death throes...the STASI tendencies displayed by British councils generally and London councils particulalry are destroying livlihoods and ripping the heart out of our communities...Damn these jobworths...these council workers and their traffic wardens are paid more than a squaddie in Afghanistan... and their pensions are safe...How sickening...How Modern Britain...
- Mowbray Jackson, London, UK, 23/03/2009 23:16
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There has been an issue with parking at Churchfield Road and it did take us too long to respond when the issue was initially raised for which I apologise.
I was, however, pleased to meet Mr Masson and his trader colleagues when they petitioned the Council and I am confident that we will improve the situation at Churchfield Road shortly; a situation which has been
greatly exacerbated by another local business that is allegedly abusing what little parking there is.
Mr Young cheerfully admits to being in the wrong with his own parking ticket so I have no doubt that he has paid it. Loading bays are actually there to assist traders in carrying out their business, not for the
convenience of those who want to park wherever they like, so keeping them clear for traders actually helps not hinders local businesses.
Cllr Phil Taylor
Responsible for Parking Services in Ealing
- Phil Taylor, Ealing, 23/03/2009 22:52
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The Parking Taliban are out there.
They can't be bargained with, They can't be reasoned with.
They don't feel pity or remorse
and they absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are broken and relieved of your hard earned cash.
- Mr S.Port, London, 23/03/2009 22:23
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Regardless of one's personal politics we can all agree that government existing only to perpetuate itself through fines and fees is the worst and most useless kind of government.
We should all shun tiny, small minds constantly worrying that someone might be engaging in life's activities without encountering governmental coercion.
- Patchy, WV, US, 23/03/2009 16:34
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I wonder why, when Croydon collect and keep the money for parking offences in Lambeth streets, the agreement between the boroughs includes a "no publicity" clause in order that the punters do not find out Croydon are getting Lambeth and Bromley's money.
The sort of thing normally reserved for lottery winners. Seriously, can this be correct, that someone parking in Lambeth should be caught unawares by a Croydon Warden, with the Boroughs colluding to keep the arrangements from the public - all the more so as the revenue stays in Croydon.
Come on Standard - investigate.
- Damien Collis, Monchengladbach, Germany, 23/03/2009 16:11
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Toby Young is so right: our local businesses have more than enough to cope with without the punitive action of the local parking enforcers: we have recently lost the Post Office which brought lots of trade - in spite of it being a profitable business. The chemist too has gone and there is much local mourning for Vanilla.
The parking is an outrage: I was ticketed in exactly the same spot for hopping out to post a letter. Luckily the bay looks like it was non-compliant and I am fighting it at the tribunal next month.
I hope Ealing Council take notice of the anger of local residents and businesses but doubt that it will.
- Sara Nathan, Acton, England, 23/03/2009 16:09
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I wonder why we bothered to fight then second world war. There has been a proliferation of parking restrictions by councils everywhere and it is being exploited also by the private parking operators who work run these car parks on behalf of the councils. Ordinary shops cant compete with Supermarkets when it comes to parking a car.
- Thomas Hayes, Leeds UK, 23/03/2009 15:21
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The appalling attitude of local councils towards motorists in general and parking in particular is a result of policies set by central government. The result is that a disproportionate amount of effort is put into silly parking rules and regulations which are seen as a source of cashflow instead of good traffic management. A complete review of parking regulations and enforcement should be undertaken as a matter of urgency before many more traders are put out of business for no good reason.
- Bethany, London W5, 23/03/2009 14:49
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All fines should be paid to the treasury and the proceeds shared among councils along with the grant. That would concentrate council minds on parking enforcement where it's needed to deter obstruction. Parking controls show Britain at it's worst; mean-spirited, pettifogging, and promoted by self-righteous zealots.
- Norman, UK, 23/03/2009 13:27
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The vast amounts of revenue raised by these vans and cameras will ensure that the public are ignored by the powers that be.A stealth tax like many others.who cares if the businesses go to the wall that van will generate sums of money that your local goverment will squander the only solution is solidarity, dont pay contest every ticket, we cannot all go to jail,stand up for your futures sake we take everything on the chin our parents didnt. Get tough make a stand BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.THIS IS OUR COUNTRY,WE ARE THEIR EMPLOYERS,WE EVEN OWN THE VERY BANKS THAT HAVE RIPPED US -OFF FOR YEARS BRITIAN FOR THE BRITTISH.
- Niall Lee, edinburgh, 23/03/2009 12:20
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My local council add insult to injury by printing the slogan "Serving the Community" beneath their logo on the parking tickets they issue. Yes, they are serving their council tax payers by ticketing them when they try to use the local shops, and serving those business rate payers by driving their customers away. I want to support my local shops, but at some times of day, it's a choice: run the gauntlet of the prowling parking attendants, or use the local Tesco's free car park.
- Bryan Armstrong, London, 23/03/2009 09:32
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The real problem is the protection of local residents' on-street parking. Not only does this clog up the streets, reducing safety and making them uglier, but it leaves visitors with limited parking on the main road, when they should be adequately accommodated in the side streets.
This policy would bring money into local areas, keep streets clearer of cars (and thus more pleasant) and operate to discourage car ownership - great for the planet. It would also bring in significant revenue compared to the ghost towns which councils are creating now.
It is pure stubbornness that councils refuse to do this - many parking managers are behind the environmental and social curve and have ignored this situation for so long that they will not implement the most societal, equitable and environmental policies as this would prove their policy stance to date was incorrect.
These gold-plated-pension above-inflation-salary-taking public sector employees should be brought to book, sooner rather than later.
- Reg, London, 23/03/2009 08:54
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