Public outcry prompts review of parking restrictions (From Times Series)

Public outcry prompts Barnet Council review of West Hendon parking restrictions

12:31pm Thursday 17th January 2013 in News By Chris Hewett

Parking officials will look again at proposals to extend restrictions in West Hendon following a public outcry at a council meeting last night.

Dozens of members from a cross-section of the community, including a mosque, church, primary school and community centre, all came out to voice their opposition to the plans.

Barnet Council is proposing to increase the hours of parking restrictions in and around Montagu Road to reduce regular congestion.

A public consultation into the plans, which attracted four petitions totalling 700 signatures, ended in December and the authority is due to publish its final recommendations in March.

Among the current plans is an extension to residents-only parking restrictions from between 9am and 5pm, on Monday to Friday, to between 10am and 9pm.

Restrictions would also be introduced on Saturdays, between 8am and 2pm, meaning anyone parking in the area would need a residents’ or visitors permit.

At last night’s Hendon Residents’ Forum, a strong crowd spent more than an hour putting across reasons why they feel the controlled parking zone (CPZ) extension would be disastrous for the area.

Members of the Barnet Multi-Cultural Community Centre said the extension would have a detrimental impact on evening activities.

One music school owner feared the parking restrictions could send his business under, with parents unwilling to pay to come into the lessons with their children.

Councillor Brian Gordon, chairman of the sub-committee, questioned how much support there was from anyone within the community for the plans.

The proposals first came about following a public meeting in 2011 where about 150 people expressed concerns over the parking situation.

But highways manager Neil Richardson explained that the council had not made any concrete decisions over their implementation.

He said: “We’re not going to stick our heels in the ground. We’ve come up with these proposals, formulated over a few years, and this is your chance to influence what happens.

“As long as we have all of your views, we will review everything before making a recommendation.”

The matter was referred to the Hendon Area Sub-Committee, held straight after the residents’ forum, where members voted to look at the proposals again.

Parking officers said they will take on board the comments from the meeting and will bring back their draft recommendations to the committee in March before they are formally put to the council.