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Bingo! No notice as parking in South Croydon goes digital-only

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Unsanctioned: the council has done little to penalise illegal parking on Selsdon Road

A digital-only parking trial that has been described by residents as “idiotic” and “unfair to anyone who doesn’t own a smartphone” has been launched this week in South Croydon – the ward which Croydon’s piss-poor Mayor, Jason Perry, represented as a councillor for 28 years.

The council has shut down all its parking meters in the misnamed Restaurant Quarter and nearby Selsdon Road, and expects all drivers to use the RingGo app.

The council announced the digital parking “trial” for South End and Selsdon Road only on Monday, the same day it was the scheme was brought in, claiming that it “is set to make it easier for more people to visit the area and support local businesses”.

But residents and the self-same local businesses dispute that, saying that using RingGo is clunky for those who have the online app, and impossible for anyone who cannot afford a smartphone.

It is another scheme overseen from the desk of the council’s £150,000 per year rubbish director Steve Iles.

The council says that the trial will last for an unusually brief period of just four weeks, until July 9. It has not offered any suggestion that it will be monitoring parking use, or shop footfall, during that period.

Locals, shop-keepers and shoppers using the village-like Selsdon Road for its coffee shops, florists, nail bars and deli have often complained that parking restrictions there are regularly ignored, with broken pavement slabs a dangerous hazard for pedestrians, and said to be caused by constant pavement parking by vans delivering to the vape shops that have moved on to the street.

Parking enforcement officers are, according to one disgruntled shop-keeper, “Rarer than the dodo.”

In its press release issued on the day the scheme begun, the council claimed that “The move comes as part of Mayor Jason Perry’s plans to… modernise services”. Which is councilspeak for cutting jobs and digitising all contact with the public.

Turned off: you cannot park in Selsdon Road or South End now unless you have a mobile phone

The council said, “Shoppers will continue to be able to get a 30-minute free parking session and be able to use the bays for up to two hours, to encourage regular turnover creating more spaces close to shops.

“The trial has been suggested as a way to ensure this service is being used as intended – to support our businesses by encouraging people to pop to local shops.”

The council pay and display machines were switched off on Monday. “Instead of getting a printed ticket, motorists will need to use the RingGo parking app to obtain a free session. One free 30-minute parking session will be available per vehicle within any 24-hour period.”

But RingGo is only available on Apple and Android.

“Those who cannot access the app will be able to call RingGo on 020 3046 0010 to arrange a session,” the council says, underlining the dependence on vehicle owners having a mobile phone.

“The council welcomes any comments on this trial,” they say. Not that anyone really believes them.

The council’s online survey can be found here.

“We need to make sure our free parking offer is working as intended to support the businesses that rely on a turnover of customers,” Part-time Perry is supposed to have said.

‘Really pleased’: Mayor Jason Perry

The same Mayor who recently hiked all residents’ Council Tax by 15per cent said: “I’m really pleased we’re taking this step, so shoppers arriving by car can spend less time looking for a spot, get 30-minutes’ free parking and keep supporting our fantastic local shops.”

The Tory Mayor, who is paid £82,000 per year by Croydon Council, said nothing about the lack of parking enforcement being used in the area to deter illegal parking and to generate income for the cash-strapped council through penalty charge notices.


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