Pay and display charges were increased last year from £1.40 per hour to £3 in Muswell Hill, Crouch End and Green Lanes.

Pay and display parking hike blamed for Harringay shop closures

by Tim Lamden Wednesday, August 1, 2012
9:26 AM

Haringey Council’s decision to double parking charges in parts of Haringey last year has been blamed for a string of recent shop closures.

Concerns were raised about the “deterrent” effect on shoppers of increasing pay and display charges near traders, particularly in Green Lanes, at the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting last Monday.

It examined the findings of a review into the impact of increasing pay and display charges from £1.40 per hour to £3 in Muswell Hill, Crouch End and Green Lanes in March 2011.

Cllr David Winskill said the hike, which saw the council rake in £454,000 from Green Lanes alone last year, was acting as a “deterrent” to shoppers.

Ian Sygrave, chairman of the Ladder Community Safety Partnership, told the meeting: “I can give you a number of examples of businesses that have shut down – they say they are leaving because their customers have been driven away by parking charges.”

But council leader Cllr Claire Kober dismissed the claims, saying the need to reduce carbon emissions was an important factor in deciding to raise the charges.

Cllr Winskill recommended introducing a “Haringey parking partnership” with “representatives from each of the three town centres” who could work with the council to “tweak the parking regime” in each town centre.