Councillor defends parking system ahead of protest march (From Times Series)

Councillor defends parking system ahead of protest march

10:45am Friday 3rd February 2012 in News By Emma Phippen

The Barnet councillor in charge of parking has defended the pay by phone system and fees, ahead of a planned protest on Monday.

Councillor Brian Coleman, cabinet member for the environment, said: "Pay by phone parking allows us to lower back office costs and protect front line services.

"Let's not forget that a year ago we were getting complaints that many of our pay and display machines were broken and people were unable to pay to park.

"More than 162,000 motorists have now signed up to pay by phone parking in Barnet."

Cllr Coleman made the comments in response to next week's planned protest along Finchley High Road, by traders who claim the current parking system is crippling their businesses.

They claim the over the phone payment system, introduced in December, is more time consuming and costly than the old pay and display machines and is putting people off visiting their shops.

Cllr Coleman accepts that people have struggled with the new system, but said there are still cash options available, including scratch cards and PayPoint - a system which allows motorists to buy parking tickets from newsagents.

He said: "Replacing pay and display machines would cost more than £1 million, which is simply not justifiable in this current climate."

He added that the council has set its budget for the year and no changes can therefore be made.