Anger grows at impact of parking zone

Opposition to the new controlled parking zone, which will affect 2,600 homes and businesses in East Finchley from this month, is growing. Vehicle owners living and working inside the new 11am-3pm zone have been given until 19 February to register and pay for street parking.

As reported in our last two editions, Barnet Council is going ahead with an 18-month trial period for what it calls the ‘experimental’ CPZ and inviting public comments in the first six months only. Signs and road
markings were being installed extensively last month. By its own figures released to us in December, only a slim majority of 51 per cent of respondents to its online consultation two years ago were in favour of any new CPZ or identified parking problems in their road.
Protest petition
Now it is happening, many residents fear it will be impossible to reverse and are questioning the council’s reasoning for bringing it in. Resident Edward Butler has started a protest petition at https://
chng.it/F9cwG5Jd49 that had gathered more than 600 signatures at the time of going to press.
“The cost implications are unaffordable for many residents and businesses already struggling with high living costs in London,” Edward claims. “We demand answers regarding consultancy involvement, cost breakdowns, motivations behind this move and expected income generated from it.”
Barnet Council told us that CPZs were intended to be selffinancing, and it has a legal obligation to reinvest any income generated to maintain and enforce the scheme. Any surplus income is used to maintain roads and other transport schemes. One signatory to the petition commented: “We don’t have an issue with parking on our road. This is completely unnecessary and a four-hour restriction is overkill and will seriously impact our local businesses and charities.”
School staff
Separately, the headteacher of Martin Primary School, which falls inside the new zone, has written to all parents warning that the school could start to lose staff if they have to pay to park on surrounding roads.
Ziz Chater told parents: “Most of our 106 members of staff walk or use public transport to get to school but 44 people drive because they do not live in the local area (many cannot afford to) and have to bring books and resources to school. We have 20 parking spaces and two parking spaces for disabled users on site “I strongly object to school staff having to pay Barnet Council £209 every year for a parking permit to work in a Barnet school providing an education for Barnet children. It is already very difficult to recruit and retain good staff, particularly as we are so close to the Haringey border and have to compete with offers of inner London salaries.”
The new zone will encompass all residential roads inside the boundaries of the North Circular, East End Road and Creighton Avenue as far as Coldfall Wood, joining up with the existing CPZs south of Leopold Road and Hertford Road.