Parking on the Hill

Take our poll on the parking situation on and around Lavender Hill.

Every day in Central London 7,255 tickets are issued, 384 cars are clamped and 132 cars are towed way. Each working day (and most weekends too) I prowl up and down the Hill in my car, looking to find a space in which to squeeze my motor. But just as frequently as I visit, the zealous Parking Attendants circle the area looking for offending parkers and even the most slim of misdemeanours will not go unpunished, as representatives of both the local government and the police force follow hot on my tyres. The precarious circumstances in which I park my trusted steed are anything but a welcome to the Hill as I find myself (quite rudely sometimes I think) constantly checking and rechecking my watch and wondering if today my luck will end and I will get towed (again).

Lavender Hill is classified as a secondary shopping centre according to Wandsworth Council, surely a title which brings with it the support to encourage and nurture the independent and exciting individual shops & stores. There are currently over 40 different reasons for parking tickets being issued. Seemingly this is contrary to the parking enforcement rules claiming to be keeping London moving. A group called PRO-MaSS (Pro motorist and small-shop) felt strongly enough about this and related issues to stand and fight the last London Mayoral election. They won over 30,000 votes.

 Between 2003-2004 there were 235,365 Penalty Charge Notices (PCN’s) issued which netted an income of £17,154,000 of which £6,887,000 was clear profit. The Hill was doubly penalised the arrival of the rather ostentatious local government ‘Parking Shop’ which, amongst other things, set a new rental president by paying a massive premium, (oh to be a monopoly!). Coupling this with the office being a start, finish and tearoom for the Wardens, the Hill is regularly witness to a veritable marching band of Attendants who find Lavender Hill rich and easy pickings.

We are petitioning for a standard pay & display times for the area of 9.30-5.30 and for yellow lines to end at the same time – at present the challenge for car users is not just to find a space (even in the correct bay) but the variable hours of the parking regulations – the rules on one street, are not those of the next. How confused are we supposed to be?! LavenderHill.co.uk is also petitioning for the pay & display cost of 1 hour parking to be reduced to the original £1.20 and not maintain the bizarre leap to £1.80 with no consultation or any apparent reason. We are also asking for yellow lines to apply from Monday to Friday, but not Saturday.

Websites such as www.park-up.com and www.ticketbusters.co.uk offer lots of helpful advice on parking restrictions and provide plenty of tips for appealing PCN’s. On this site we have started a petition, asking the council to launch a review of the parking situation on and around the Hill. Please support this is a wonderful London street and the businesses which wish to welcome all shoppers through their doors. Together we can make the necessary changes; through this website we want to raise the local voice to deafening levels. Sign the petition and be heard!