Southwark Council are proposing to introduce a permit parking scheme in East Dulwich. They are running a public consultation on it which you can respond to here: https://consultations.southwark.gov.uk/environment-leisure/eastdulwichparking/, but you need to do so before the 28th February.

East Dulwich is an area of narrow streets, with little off-street parking but with many residents owning cars, sometimes more than one. On-street parking is often difficult, made worse by the introduction of permit parking schemes in adjacent areas. See photo below.

The Council expects the scheme to reduce kerbside parking by 40%. Where are the vehicles going to go? The Consultation does not say. It also does not indicate the level of charges that will apply. Parking spaces will also be reduced by the introduction of “parklets” – where bays are converted to mini “open spaces” with planting and seating.

What is likely to happen is that residents will simply find that they are paying for a previously free parking space, but that they find it even more difficult to find a parking space. Indeed they may find that they are paying to park outside their home but cannot do so!

The Freedom for Drivers Foundation consistently opposes permit parking schemes because they do not provide any more parking spaces so are generally simply a way for councils to extract taxes from residents, most of which is wasted on administration of such schemes.

This scheme is exactly the kind of proposal to discourage car ownership by Sadiq Khan in his Mayor’s Transport Strategy which we have been opposing. The money to implement this scheme will no doubt come from the Mayor via TfL.

Residents and businesses in the area should make sure they object.

Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

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