Shirley residents and shops demand one-hour free parking

insidecroydon

12 years ago

Activists in Shirley yesterday delivered a petition to Transport for London signed by more than 1,200 local residents calling for one-hour free parking at key points in their neighbourhood.

Said Otmani, left, and Marzia Nicodemi, right, at City Hall yesterday with Fiona Twycross accepting the petition on parking in Shirley

When Marzia Nicodemi and Said Otmani delivered the petition, they were met outside City Hall by London Assembly Member Fiona Twycross.

“Shirley has four parades of shops: the Bluebird Parade, the Poppy Parade, the Library Parade and the Shirley Inn Parade,” Nicodemi said. “But Shirley has no car parks and one small co-op.”

Double red lines – the responsibility of TfL – and other parking restrictions make trading very difficult for the small independent shops along Wickham Road and once you reach the Shirley Library travelling west towards Croydon the one hour parking becomes 30 minutes.

“That’s not enough time to meet friends for a coffee, or do some shopping, or get a haircut,” Otmani said.

According to Nicodemi, variations in the timings of parking restrictions in the area sees many unwitting motorists falling prey to fixed penalty notices, and the owners of independent shops complain that this is driving their customers away.

Nicodemi is the secretary of the organisation which runs the community centre and for the past four years has edited the online community magazine Shirley Life. Nicodemi and Otmani are both Labour candidates in Shirley ward in the local elections on May 22.

“We, the Shirley Labour Team, decided to start a petition without any Labour insignia because we are Shirley residents and it is our problem,” Nicodemi said.

“The Hartland Way Surgery asked us to add a request for disabled parking because their patients cannot park anywhere. Said takes his elderly father-in-law to the surgery and I accompany elderly residents under the Shirley Neighbourhood Care umbrella. We agreed without hesitation.

“We are determined to get our one-hour free parking.”