CAB threatened by new parking zone (From Times Series)

CAB threatened by new parking zone

11:46am Wednesday 26th March 2003

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A planned controlled parking zone (CPZ) for Hendon could mean the closure of Hendon's Citizen's Advice Bureau (CAB).

Andrew Dismore, the MP for Hendon, claimed the CPZ could force the CAB in Greyhound Hill to close and would make it difficult for constituents to visit his surgery in The Burroughs.

Helen Kelavey, manager of the CAB in Greyhound Hill, said: "The CPZ would prevent our workforce being able to park, and prevent clients who are often under extreme financial hardship accessing it.

"We will probably be unable to function."

A CPZ business permit costs £250 a head and a maximum of three are available.

The CAB employs five staff and about 30 part-time volunteers.

Mr Dismore said his office had not been consulted about the scheme.

"The zone will make it very, very difficult for residents to come from all over the constituency and visit me or my assistant," he said.

Mrs Kelavey said most of the parking problems in the area were caused by students from Middlesex University.

A spokeswoman for Middlesex University said: "This is by no means a university issue only. The university has adopted a green travel plan to achieve a reduction in car use."

Some councillors have been granted immunity from CPZ restrictions to enable them to perform civic duties. The move has attracted criticism from residents, who feel there is one rule for Barnet Council and another for everybody else.

The exemption for politicians was proposed by Liberal Democrat leader Monroe Palmer.

Mr Palmer said he was being forced to park illegally in order to run his surgery in The Terraces, Childs Hill, because of the CPZ there.

Meanwhile, the cost of a CPZ parking permit is set to rise by 50 per cent to £30 from April.

A council spokesman said it was the first rise since 1991 and was still lower than in adjacent boroughs.

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