Forwarding from Cllr Colacicco: A lot of misinformation is circulating regarding the parking charge increase, which is really worrying some people – so I asked the Lead Member for the environment Cllr Eleanor Southwood to provide the facts and the background
On 16th November 2015 the Council’s Cabinet agreed to formally consult on a proposed increase to the cost of visitor parking in Brent. The purpose of the price increase is to enable the Council to better manage demand for parking space, and encourage visitors to use more sustainable travel modes. This in turn will reduce carbon emissions, pollution and traffic congestion. The purpose of the price increase is not to raise income, which is prohibited by law. Any additional income generated by the price increase will be spent on specific transport related activity, e.g. ensuring that Brent can afford to continue to support the Freedom Pass for concessionary travel.
Proposals below, along with the reasons for the proposals, which I hope is helpful.
* To introduce a new 4 hour visitor permit priced at £3.00. Brent currently only offers an all day visitor permit and we are seeking to offer greater flexibility for people who don’t need to park all day. This also contributes to better management of our very limited on street parking by encouraging a greater turnover of vehicles. The £3 cost is proposed as it is comparable to the cheapest public transport alternative. This supports our aim to encourage more sustainable modes of transport where possible.
For visitors who need to park for only a short period of time, the availability of pay & display bays may better meet their needs rather than pre-booking a visitor permit. For visitors booking a parking space by mobile phone the current charges in such bays are £1 for up to 30 minutes, and £2 for up to an hour.
* To increase the price of an all day visitor permit to £4.50. This increased cost brings Brent closer in line with neighbouring Boroughs, e.g. Ealing, who also charge £4.50. The current very low cost (£1.50) is leading to overcrowding in many of our streets as it seems people are choosing to park in Brent instead of more expensive neighbouring boroughs. Visitor bookings are particularly high in the South East of the Borough near to the borders with Boroughs who charge considerably more for daily permits (e.g. Camden charge £6.49) and near to underground stations. Given that residents in CPZ’s can purchase an annual household permit for regular, legitimate visitors, it appears that some residents are selling daily visitor permits to commuters. This is unfair on people whose genuine visitors are struggling to find a place to park.
* To increase the price of the annual visitor household permit to £165. Our Annual Visitor Household permit provides an option for people who receive regular visitors. There are a host of reasons for this, e.g. long term building projects, childcare or informal care from family and friends. We are limiting the price increase of this permit to the equivalent of £1 a week.
The Council will continue to issue an Essential User permit to those organisations which provide formal care to residents. This means that staff providing care to these residents will be unaffected by these changes.
Residents will have the opportunity to give their views on the proposals when the draft Traffic Management Orders are published. The draft TMOs will be advertised in local newspapers and on the Council’s website, and are expected to be available in January 2016. The link to the Council’s website where details of the proposals will be found is: