Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Sustainable Haringey Criticise Lib Dems' 30 Mins Free Parking Campaign
Lib Dem Parking Campaign publicity photo
Last Autumn I questioned the wisdom of the Lib Dems' 30 mins free parking campaign. Today I noticed that Sustainable Haringey have taken a public stand against it:
Dear Lynne
Your petition: 30 MINUTES FREE PARKING IN HARINGEY
This is a bad proposal. You say it is "to help shopkeepers". But research over decades as shown that it will neither help shopkeepers, nor the vast majority who come by other modes.
The real problem and solution.
The thing that deters most shoppers - who are pedestrians (including bus-users) - above all is the domination of their shopping streets by fast, polluting traffic that confines them to narrow pavements, and makes crossing the road difficult. Those are the things you and your councillors should be addressing, rather than pandering to the already well cared-for motorists, who always protest in the UK as though they were an oppressed minority.
A policy worth pushing Government and Haringey to adopt is to reduce speeds in busy roads where there are many pedestrians, such as Muswell Hill Broadway, to 20 mph and ultimately 10mph, as is common in Europe.
Shopkeepers vastly overestimate car shoppers
Research has always discovered that shopkeepers believe that about twice as many of their customers come by car as actually do. Research has demonstrated this in Edinburgh (2003) and Bristol (2006), and nearly 20 years ago in what is now the traffic-calmed shopper-friendly city of Graz in Southern Austria. In Edinburgh, fewer than 25% (and falling) came by car. In Bristol, only 22% came by car, whereas shopkeepers estimated it was 41%.
Also, in Bristol, car-users tended to be 'drive-through' shoppers; they made 4 times as many single-shop visits as pedestrians (including bus-users) who visited several shops. [SUSTRANS 2003 and 2006.]
The quality of the shopping centre, not parking, has most impact on trade
Research in Leicester in 1992 showed that shop vacancy rates increase as the level of traffic increases. A study of 6 Midlands towns in 1994 showed that "parking provision does not have an influence on whether shops close or remain trading". The overall quality and attractiveness of the centres had more impact on trade.
Groningen in the Netherlands pedestrianised a large part of their central area in the face of a barrage of ferocious criticism from business, but the area is now prized by the population. That is the kind of long term target we should pursue here.
There is no such thing as a FREE lunch
Free parking is a way of subsidising motorists at the expense of the majority who come by other modes, often with considerable effort in the interests of the environment and the community.
Free parking at supermarkets is another way in which motorists are subsidised by the rest of us. An Act of parliament to introduce fair charges is a project I commend to you.
Kind regards
David Rennie
on behalf of the Sustainable Haringey Transport Group
For more on the Sustainable Haringey Transport Group, contact Chris Barker: contact Chris Barker - c.barker@lineone.net.
(PS: Don't you just love that PR photo? Scary!)
Tags for Forum Posts: high street parking, high streets, parking
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Grant on
-
The version of this letter on the sustainable Haringey website includes this line, missing from the letter replicated above:
You say this proposal is ‘to help shopkeepers’. But where is the evidence for that?
This is a key point. I have asked local Lib Dem councillors to let me know what their evidence base is for this policy, so far they have been unable to produce anything to support their claim that this proposal will help shops in Haringey. As pointed out in this discussion, if parking spaces are not being paid for by charging those using them, the cost of maintaining and enforcing car parking falls to the council tax payer. If the Lib Dems can't demonstrate that they have calculated the free parking proposal would produce a net benefit to the local economy it seems unreasonable to expect everyone else to pick up the tab for the minority of shoppers arriving by car.
It's quite revealing to search the Haringey Lib Dems website - ‘parking’ reveals 28 hits, ‘walking’ 2 and ‘cycling’ 0. It's odd that they don't seem to have evidence on what they obviously consider to be a key concern.
-
Permalink Reply by Hugh on
-
Here's a thoughtful and heartfelt contribution from a Hornsey resident made on a local email group following the recent introduction of the Hornsey CPZ:
I've had a scheme in mind for a long time which would be much fairer, probably keep up the current revenue and stop the constant frustration of Haringey car owners (we can't all ride bikes or walk everywhere - especially the more elderly among us!!): namely, have a Haringey parking permit which any Haringey resident or worker could purchase at a reasonable cost (say £50 - £75 per annum) in return for which we can park anywhere we can find a space in the Borough. This would stop the craziness of individual CPZs with their different operating times and stop workers having to rush out in their lunch break to move from one CPZ to another........ I could go on, but I won't! When the recent consultation took place people were asked if they'd like to be on a Parking Focus group - I offered, but have heard nothing since. Another dropped idea?
There probably isn't a perfect answer, but there has to be something better than the present awful situation, which is harming community life in so many ways, not just the traders' aspect. My main point is that the community really ought to have a chance to put its collective head together and come up with some innovative ideas to which the Council would really listen - there has to be something better than what we have. I would love there to be a proper objective dialogue where we could think what's best for everyone, because we've all been put into a defensive mode now and tend to look at it from a very local point of view.
I agree that short free parking on the HIgh Street would help in the interim - Lynne F. may be able to whizz round the shops in 30 mins. (you're often almost that long in the Post Office queue!) but 60 or 90 mins would be a better option - people might be able to squeeze in a coffee and a chat as well then!!! I find the current parking restrictions are seriously affecting social interaction and family life too.
- ‹ Previous
- 1
- 2
- Next ›
© 2024 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
