The purpose of controlled parking zones isn’t to guarantee a parking spot outside your home, it’s to stop other people from parking there. Usually they are introduced, after a poll of residents, in response to increasing pressure on parking spaces from, say, commuters. Introducing a borough wide permit might actually make parking even more difficult in some areas.What’s not discussed is the blatant flouting of the law by councils to use them to rake in the cash. Under the original statute permit charges are only meant to cover the costs of running a scheme, which is relatively cheap. This was confirmed by subsequent case law but is conveniently ignored by councils who boost revenues through emissions based permits and charges for having more than one vehicle.No doubt Cllr Lambert - who, of course, enjoys his private off-road parking space - will deny this is the case, but the fact is that CPZ schemes add millions in profit (it’s called a surplus) to council coffers. Imagine how nice it would be if the councils offered to refund or reduce those fees to help residents in these troubled times.
Simon Hayes ● 17d