| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Hounslow Council to put up council tax next year... | |
| Posted by: | Cllr Sam Hearn | |
| Date/Time: | 12/12/16 10:48:00 |
| Bernard - you extract a quote from a longer posting of mine. Residents of The St Thomas Road estate will only get a CPZ if and when they are consulted and sufficient residents want one. An existing CPZ scheme in the Grove Park Area has recently been extended and the anecdotal evidence is that some commuter parking has been displaced into St Thomas Road. Some residents are concerned about this and as their Councillor I take an active interest in what they are saying. I would agree that the evidence does not support Cllr Christie's contention that CPZ's are only for rich people. In my opinion CPZ's are simply a weapon in the armoury of traffic planners that can be deployed when residents persistently find it difficult to park in their local streets e.g. in areas close to stations or shopping centres. The parking services contract is periodically subject to competitive tendering and at other times the standards and costs of the service are benchmarked. This encourages innovation and cost control by the competing service providers. If those posting on this site have evidence of excessive profit making or corruption by contractors then it would be helpful if they would provide specific examples. The parking revenue account has fallen into deficit because of poor management and we can all point fingers at those that we believe are responsible. However the important point is that Councils are not allowed to cross subsidise services in this way and the charges will have to go up. As a Councillor and as a resident I would simply ask that the proposals on increased charges be made available to all of us in sufficient time for them to be properly discussed and debated. Last week's Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting was a bit of a shambles - lets hope that by the February Borough Council meeting we have a properly costed budget with all the proposed increases in charges nailed down. Forum Home |