Anger at council’s plan for new parking controls close to Stamford Hill

Opposed to the parking controls: Cllr Abraham Jacobson

Opposition politicians are furious at Hackney Council’s plan to install parking controls on roads near Stamford Hill in the new year, saying the measure lacks public support.

A new controlled parking zone, or CPZ, will affect Lampard Grove, Margaret Road, Windus Road and Alkham Road – despite a survey carried out by the council indicating majority support for the scheme in just one of these four roads.

In total 54 per cent of respondents in Alkham Road said they were in favour of introducing controls, while in Margaret Road respondents were undecided, with half for and half against.

In Windus Road and Lampard Grove a clear majority of responses expressed their opposition to the plan.

Sample sizes in these roads were relatively small, but the council also surveyed a larger number of streets in the area. Of these, 91 per cent of responses indicated opposition to any new CPZ in or around Stamford Hill.

Simche Steinberger, a Conservative councillor for Springfield ward, described as “absolutely ridiculous” the council’s decision to include Lampard Grove, where a huge majority – 90 per cent – of respondents were opposed to the CPZ.

“Drop the whole thing because there is not enough support even in these three roads,” he said. “We do think the CPZ is a money-making thing.”

Conservative councillor Simche Steinberger

Abraham Jacobson, a Liberal Democrat councillor for Cazenove ward, accused the council of ignoring the will of the people.

“The vast majority of the local community just doesn’t want a CPZ,” Cllr Jacobson told the Hackney Citizen. “A lot of people have ordinary jobs and they will need a car. There are a lot of reciprocal arrangements for using cars in this area.”

He also accused the Town Hall of adopting a “one size fits all” policy on parking, and he said he feared the CPZ was simply a “money making exercise”.

A council spokesperson said: “All revenue generated from parking zones is ring-fenced and must be invested back into transport related work such as freedom passes,highway and street scene improvements and safer car parks.”

‘Parking stress’

Town Hall parking chiefs insist they received requests from residents in the area who have faced parking difficulties.

Surveys carried out there revealed some roads suffered from “high parking stress”, according to the council.

They also insisted the new CPZ was based around roads where residents have been generally supportive of implementing controlled parking.

“If the CPZ is being implemented in roads that did not support controlled parking, this is usually to create a logical boundary to the controlled parking zone, and to avoid displacement parking from nearby roads,” the council’s spokesperson added.

“Since the decision was made to introduce parking controls in the four roads, the council has already received two further petitions requesting parking controls from nearby roads. This demonstrates that there is a clear need and requests for parking controls from some residents in the area who are finding it difficult to park.”

Those angry about the plan believe the process was flawed from the start, however, and they have accused the council of acting in bad faith.

Town Hall officers in charge of the consultation allegedly ignored over 3,000 completed survey papers, before later changing their minds and including them.

The papers had been collected by the opposition councillors and others and submitted. They were initially counted as a single document by officials. It is understood the position was later reversed following complaints, meaning the 3,000 papers were ultimately included in the consultation.