Lambeth council claims to have cut the number of parking tickets it issues by 25 per cent.
In 2009/10, the council issued 250,000 penalty charge notices – a figure that is expected to fall to around 187,000 in 2013/14.
This latest cut means that over the last four years, around 63,000 less tickets were issued.
The penalty charge notices issued for the last three complete financial years were:
- 2010/11 206,281
- 2011/12 198,286
- 2012/13 191,564
Councillor Imogen Walker, cabinet member for environment and sustainability, said: “Parking control is an essential service which makes sure the streets are clear for traffic, including emergency vehicles, to get around the borough. Our focus is on providing excellent customer services and we are introducing new technology, such as pay by phone, which makes it easier for our customers to park.
“As a result we have been able to scale back enforcement in many areas and dramatically reduce the number of penalty charge notices we issue. We have done this by working with residents and businesses and using more strategic, focused enforcement when it comes to tackling traffic problems.”
The council claims one chief elements was allowing drivers a five-minute leeway prior to a ticket being issued, and allowing parking wardens to be more lenient.
It says other improvements include allowing most permits to be renewed online since October 2011, a projected 35 per cent fall in vehicles being impounded since 2009/10 and a scaling down in the number of vehicle removal operations since July 2009.
Cllr Walker said: “We have listened to resident’s concerns about how many tickets were being issued, how long the appeals process took and acted accordingly.
“This year we will be building upon these improvements with more changes in response to resident’s feedback about how they want us to keep the borough’s streets safe and the traffic moving.”
This comes after the Brixton Blog uncovered millions of pounds of parking tickets were being wrongly issued by Lambeth every year.
So when services are cut back we know that Lambeth allowing people’s private death machines to park illegally, whose pollution knocks years off every Londoner’s life, is to blame. The borough has excellent public transit, why anyone who isn’t disabled or making deliveries needs a car here is beyond me. How much more pleasant would the public environment be if we could have mini parks rather than car parks. How great would it be if parents felt it was safe to let their kids cycle to school rather than being a risk from being hit by one of these anti-social vehicles. And how much more trade would shops in Brixton have if people felt safe to cycle to them whenever they needed something, rather than ordering it online or waiting for a weekly big shop at a large supermarket.