Parking scheme goes ahead despite failed consultation
At a time when money is tight it’s come as something of a shock to many residents in the Preston Park station area that we now have to pay an additional £106.00 per year to park in our own streets.
According to council data only 39 per cent of residents in the area affected returned questionnaires as part of last year’s public consultation.
What’s more interesting is that precisely 49.6 per cent of respondents were for the scheme while exactly the same figure (49.6) were against.
The vast majority of residents (60 per cent) of people in the area did not have time to fill out the questionnaire and the council have published data showing that they have no real idea who’s for and against the scheme.
Nearly everyone I’ve spoken to in my street was against the proposals, yet if they were concerned enough to contact the council, would it have made a difference?
Both of my letters to parking strategy team manager Charles Field were unanswered as was my letter to the Environment Initiatives Team. The only councillor who had the decency to respond to my concerns was Juliet McCaffery.
Surely the council need to push for responses from the 61 per cent of residents who failed to reply before pushing ahead with such a scheme?
