Updated Update on CPZ

Two weeks ago (Aug 20th 2007) I received a mail from Councillor Haley informing me that he plans to proceed with the changes to the CPZ as originally planned in spite of our survey which showed significant opposition. This was in spite of the significant opposition shown in the survey carried out which included a petition with more residents opposed to the changes than supported it in the Council's own survey. His message to me in full was:

" I am writing to provide you with the information regarding Green Lanes CPZ. I am proposing to implement as set out in the consultation documents, we will be walking the ladder street junction off Green Lanes to assess if there needs to be more pay and display bays at the Green Lanes entrances and more residents bays at the start of the residential part of the ladder roads.

I will review the situation after 12 months in terms of the timing."

I sent him a response over two weeks ago (as of 5th Sept) and am still awaiting a reply.

The following was published in a recent copy of Haringey Council's People magazine:

"We only consult on Controlled Parking Zones where we have requests for parking controls from residents. If the consultation shows that our original information is incorrect and there isn’t popular local support for them we don’t go ahead."

The issue will be discussed at the Area Assembly on 11th Sept (See Area Assembly News Page).

Original Update:

On July 18th Paul Mckay and I met with Councillor Brian Haley, the "cabinet member" with responsibility for streets. The proposal on changes to our CPZ was due to go to committee on the 17th but he pulled it. He has decided that due to the complexity of the Green Lanes (A) parking zone, he needs to give the issue further condiseration prior to making a final decision. He said that he will be asking the full cabinet to give him authority to make the final decision on his own. He is listening and has agreed to come back to us once he is closer to a final decision. Let's hope he'll come back with a good solution

We also raised residents' concerns about visitors' permits. He is keen to hear people's views on how the visitors' permit system can be improved. So let him know direct or air your views here. (His contact info can be found on the Councillors' and MP's Contact Info. page).


Council survey and survey results, residents' survey analysis and submission to the Council can be downloaded in the CPZ discussion group.

Original Post on CPZ:

Many residents are furious about the changes proposed to Green Lanes (A) Parking Zone. Haringey Council are currently proposing new regulations that will reduce parking restrictions from the current Monday – Sunday, 08.00 – 22.00 to a new Monday – Saturday, 08.00 to 18.30. At a first look, this might seem like good news- Hooray! No more visitors’ parking permits in the evenings!

But think again. Did you live in the area before the CPZ was put in place? Those of you who did will remember the many evenings and weekends when no parking was to be found. At best sometimes, it meant parking four or five streets away. And think what’s changed since the CPZ was first introduced:
- Car ownership has increased greatly.
- Many more cafes, restaurants and late night shops have opened on Green Lanes and many of the customers don’t live in the area. They’ll want to drive here and park here.
- The Arena shopping development has grown – and is set to grow again, bringing even more traffic into the area. Have you noticed how full the Arena car park has become? As it gets even fuller, where will people wanting to use the Arena shops park?

It’s not hard to work out that the pressure on parking will be much greater than it was. It was tough to park in the evenings before the CPZ. If these changes go through, it’s just about certain that you will be faced with not being able to park frequently.

So what use no visitors’ permits? If they can’t find a parking place, it’ll get worse for visitors too, not better.

Haringey’s likely motivation for the change seems pretty clear. The traders have been pressuring the Council for years to provide additional parking. Shefik Mehmet, Chairman of the Green Lanes Traders Association was quoted in the Hornsey Journal on 28th June 2007 as saying “The change is good for us because we have had a lot of problems as it has got very busy, particularly because of the Arena. It is very welcome by the traders”. Their viewpoint is understandable; they have businesses to run. But they know where their customers will park and many residents know what the consequences will be for their own parking.

The Council ran a survey to supposedly gauge people’s views, but it was poorly conducted. They should have done an impact study to understand what the effects of the proposed changes would be. They didn’t do one. So when the survey was sent round, none of the residents were informed about the likely effects of the various options. Nor were the survey results convincing. Only 7% of Green Lanes (A) residents responded. Of that number only 56% voted for the proposed hours – that’s about 3½ % of all residents in the affected area. The Council said this means a majority of residents want the change and they have a mandate now to introduce the new scheme. Many residents think differently; people weren’t aware of the likely effects of the change when they filled in the survey and the number of people who supported it in their responses is far too small to constitute a mandate let alone a majority.

A group of residents in the area carried out their own survey, including a sample of 200 people. Of that number 92% were against the change. Some had chosen an hours reduction in the survey. But when they considered the likely effects, they changed their views. The consistent message was they want to protect parking for residents and their visitors, but they want the visitors’ permit system made less onerous.

Original Post:

A submission and petition has been submitted to the Council and they are due to make their final decision on July 17th.