Council backs down on parking permit cost increase

Following pressure from residents and your Lib Dem councillors, Haringey Council has been forced to back down on plans to scrap daily visitor permits in CPZs, which would have forced forcing residents to use more expensive hourly permits.

Thank you to everyone who helped us by making your voices heard and responding to the council's consultation on parking charges - which received over 3,000 responses, with over 95% of unique responses objecting to the unfair removal of daily visitor permits. Daily permits cost £5 per day, and this will now remain the case (under the completely unfair original plans, buying enough hourly permits to cover CPZ hours could have cost up to £17 per day depending where you are in the borough - a 240% increase).

Labour-run Haringey Council claimed that the reason for the daily visitors parking permit removal was "circumstantial evidence suggests daily visitor permits are open to being used for purposes other than intended" (though under our questioning from Lib Dem opposition councillors, have never been able to say what this evidence is, or provide detail of it).

When Lib Dem councillors questioned the Lead Cabinet Member directly on the subject in a public cabinet meeting she replied: “We need to get value out of our land.” In other words, a straightforward cash grab, masquerading as tackling an issue with parking misuse. Thank you again to everyone who shared our outrage at this proposal and responded to the consultation to stop this egregious cash-grab, and for all the individuals and resident groups that worked so hard and similarly rallied so many to respond.