West End parking banned by stealth

Westminster council was today accused of "an appalling breach of faith" after it ordered the removal of more than 1,000 parking spaces in the West End.

Mayor Boris Johnson condemned the Tory authority's "deeply cynical" move, which came nine days after the High Court blocked the introduction of evening and Sunday parking charges.

The latest proposals, "sneaked out" before Christmas, will see single yellow lines converted to "no parking at any time" double yellows on January 9 - amounting to the loss of the equivalent of 1,191 free out-of-hours parking spaces.

Critics said it was effectively a "backdoor" way of forcing drivers out of the West End in defiance of the ruling by Mr Justice Collins on December 14. That decision resulted in council leader Colin Barrow suspending the £4.80-an-hour "tax on nightlife" until after the Olympics.

In his most outspoken attack yet, the Mayor told the Standard: "This is a deeply cynical move and an appalling breach of faith. Small businesses, churchgoers, actors, and thousands of decent Londoners rely on the West End for their livelihood and we all rely on them to maintain the economic vitality of our great city. I urge Westminster to pause and think about the consequences of their increasingly reckless decisions. And I've asked GLA economics, informed by TfL, to start an immediate assessment of the impact of this move."

Labour's mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone also condemned the action, saying: "Westminster council seems to have taken leave of its senses."

The Liberal Democrats' Brian Paddick said: "This is absolutely outrageous behaviour by Westminster council. They are quite clearly hell-bent on damaging the economy of the West End in order to raise money from motorists."
The new restrictions will affect hundreds of streets in Mayfair, Fitzrovia and parts of Marylebone, although Soho and Covent Garden are largely unscathed.

In total, about 16 per cent of the single yellow lines, which allow free parking in the evening and on Sundays, will be changed. The announcement, from Westminster's commissioner of transportation Martin Low, came on the afternoon of Friday December 23.

Patricia Michelson, owner of La Fromagerie cheese shop in Marylebone, said: "It's absolutely atrocious. To decide to do this on 23 December, just before everyone goes away for Christmas, is appalling.

"What annoys me is they say they want to listen, they want to review, but it's a complete lie. Within a few days of saying that, they bring in all these yellow line conversions. It's totally deceitful, sly and not in the interest of anyone."

Nicola Powrie, 38, a croupier at Les Ambassadeurs casino, Mayfair, said: "I drive from Chelmsford and rely on yellow lines to park. What the council is doing is disgusting. I don't think they want anyone to come into London."

Glenys Roberts, a West End councillor and the only Tory council member to come out fully against the plans, said: "There is a lot of local anger because the assumption was nothing was about to go through after the judge advised the council not to go ahead."

Paul Dimoldenberg, Labour's group leader on the council said: "This was a deliberate attempt to sneak things through when everybody was off on their Christmas holidays. Also, they knew the Standard would not be able to publish anything for days. It's an outrageous abuse of the council's powers and I'm sure the High Court will have something to say about this."

In a separate development Mr Dimoldenberg revealed that the council had admitted to a huge miscount of the number of single yellow line parking spaces that would have been axed under its original proposals. Instead of the 1,719 figure given to councillors, the real total was 8,463.

Under the new proposals, the council said removing single yellow lines would let pedestrians cross more safely at many junctions, allow emergency-response vehicles better access to buildings, and enable drivers to drop off passengers more easily.

It said its own research showed the move "should not materially impact" the ability of motorists to park on single yellow lines after 6.30pm.

A spokesman also insisted the timing of the announcement was driven by its desire to "get the information out there as quickly as possible so people could appreciate what it will mean. There was definitely no sweeping under the carpet".

The spokesman added that "over 90 per cent of these places cannot be parked on anyway because of the Highway Code". He said most of the new double yellow lines were on so called "dropped kerbs", where pedestrians cross, at 170 road junctions.

Lee Rowley, the council's cabinet member for parking and transport, said: "Highway Code rule 243 makes it clear you cannot park at a junction. We know that people still do inadvertently park on a junction and if they do they get a ticket. We think it's important to make it as clear as possible."

Westminster Older People's Action, an independent campaign group for local residents, said it was "wholeheartedly in favour" of the plan.

What is the council doing?
Converting stretches of single yellow lines into double yellow lines across the West End on Monday January 9.

Which streets will be affected?
More than 200 roads in the West End, Mayfair, Fitzrovia and Marylebone, such as Berkeley Square, Mount Street and New Bond Street, will see at least some sections of single yellow lines converted into doubles.

What will this mean for motorists?
Less "free" parking spaces in the evenings and on Sundays will inevitably mean more drivers having to pay up to £4.80 an hour on metered bays or using car parks.

How many parking spaces will be lost?
The equivalent of 1,191 car spaces, around 16 per cent of the total in the affected zones of the West End.

How does this compare with the "tax on nightlife" abolition of all free West End parking in the evenings and on Sunday afternoons proposed, and shelved, by Westminster council?
That would have resulted in more than 8,400 fewer parking spaces.

Who could be affected by the council's new move?
According to critics, residents who struggle to find designated residents' parking spaces; pub, restaurant and casino staff, who rely on single yellow lines to park; theatregoers and other visitors. But the council says it will be much better for pedestrians and drivers dropping people off or picking them up.

Olivia Knowles, 23
works at Hard Rock Cafe on Old Park Lane: "There's a lot of people who drive to come here and people are already having to drive around for half an hour to find a space sometimes. This will just make it worse."

George Ellamaa, 39
chaffeur from Hertfordshire: "This will make it very hard for us. If you are on £10 an hour, you cannot afford to pay for parking if you want to stop and get something to eat. It's not worth it. We will have to drive around looking for somewhere to park. That will just add to the congestion."

Liliana Bujak, 38
lives on Baker Street and works in film production: "I park in the West End and it's already hard enough. Turning some of the single yellows into double yellows is just going to make it more expensive and nearly impossible."

Chris Ramsey, 23
duty manager of Clarence Bar, Mayfair: "This will affect customers who take their car into the area. Many already say it's difficult to park. A lot of businesses will be affected."

Ibrar Saleem, 36
contract lawyer from Walthamstow: "I take my disabled father into central London just to get him out. This will make that more difficult. Finding a parking space is already appalling and it's going to get worse."