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Parking charge rises in Westminster have left residents feeling 'ignored'

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date18 April 2024
Publication titleMyLondon (England)
The survey showed 91.9 per cent of respondents expressed concerns or opposed the plans while only 4 per cent said they were “largely supportive” of them. Cllr Ed Pitt Ford, minority group lead for sustainable transport, accused Westminster City Council of ignoring respondents

The Pimlico North cllr said: “The Labour administration argued that this is not a referendum on parking charges; I would argue that when you are ignoring 90 per cent of people responding, this is no longer a democracy!”

Tim Barnes, Conservative parliamentary candidate for Cities of London and Westminster, said: “If you ask people and nine out of ten say don’t do it, you shouldn’t just do it anyway. Labour put the prices up before the consultation results came out to try and hide from listening to what local people had to say”.

Westminster City Council said the new scheme will support the growth of Electric Vehicles EVs in the borough while keeping charges fair, proportionate, and as low as possible. MyLondon understands the council described the previous EV charging scheme, which started at 8p, as "unsustainable".

Opposition councillors have previously accused the council of hiking charges on EVs by almost 1,800 per cent. Previous reporting by MyLondon shows prices will jump to £1.46 an hour.

In a report, the council said cheapest charges in each of Westminster’s parking zones will be lower than those charges by surrounding local authorities. They said for pay-to-park charges on EV and plug-in hybrid vehicles, the increase is “virtually nominal” citing charges of 8p an hour in Paddington to 24p an hour in the West End.

Among the changes is a new charge for resident permits on EVs, which were previously exempt. The council is also dropping the number of vehicles covered by a residents’ permit from two to one meaning residents will now have to pay £50 to register a second vehicle and an additional £100 to register a third.

One in four said the new charges would make it less likely they would have an electric vehicle.

Some 29 per cent of respondents cited the proposals were about raising revenue rather than protecting the environment while just over 14 per cent said they felt “cheated / betrayed” by the council after switching to an EV to avoid...

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