Less than a month after he introduced overnight car parking charges across most of the borough in changes claimed “to make parking fairer, simpler, and more consistent”, Tory Mayor Jason Perry has been forced into making a hand-brake turn and drop some charges in seven car parks.
No alternative: parking meters have been switched off, and now the council has backed down over night-time charging
Residents’ associations in Coulsdon expressed outrage when the council sneaked out the night-time charges last month.
Only New Addington had escaped having night-time parking charges imposed under Mayor Perry’s latest money-making wheeze, as the council switched off all its parking meters and forced motorists to use the RingGo parking app.
There has been no formal announcement of the council’s abrupt U-turn over night-time charges (perhaps to avoid the obvious embarrassment caused), but on Friday, East Coulsdon Residents’ Association received an email from a Conservative councillor asking them to pass on the news of the change.
“This can only help the night-time economy and the people without parking places who need to park overnight,” according to one member of the residents’ association.
“Another small victory for us and common sense,” they said.
The switchover from parking meters to RingGo went ahead despite generally negative responses from residents in public consultations. Older motorists, and people who simply don’t want to be forced into being monitored by a third-party smartphone app, have had their serious reservations ignored by Perry (catchphrase: “I’m listening”) and his council.
Perry’s changes included a massive reduction in the discount for drivers of electric vehicles (reinforcing Perry’s well-deserved reputation as being pro-pollution), a borough-wide hike in the cost of parking, and charges for using council car parks overnight (generally from 6pm to 7am), which had previously always been free of charge.
‘More consistent’: it was less than a month ago that the council imposed the night-time parking charges
Friday’s email from Councillor Ian Parker announcing the swift reverse said: “I know this is something many were concerned about.
“I’m pleased to report we’ve listened to our residents and free overnight parking in seven car parks in our town and district centres has been introduced. This includes Lion Green Road.”
Although if Parker and Mayor Perry had “listened” in the first place, including over the course of public consultations earlier this year, the charges would never have been imposed in the first place.
Parker’s email listed the car parks which will return to free overnight parking as:
- Coulsdon Town
- Central Parade
- Sanderstead Road
- Lion Green Road
- Russell Hill Place
- Clifford Road
- Garnet Road
- Graville Gardens
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I asked one of my local councillors, via email, to clarify the rules about blue badge holders and RingGo. This was before the general election so he was probably busy canvassing. He never did reply.
This could suggest that he is not interested in the RingGo system, that he is not interested in the problems faced by disabled drivers, that he doesn’t find it odd that previous notes from the Council have suggested that while parking is free for blue badge holders they will be charged for logging their presence with Ring Go and fined if they don’t.
I guess he just doesn’t care.
I said I wasn’t going to park in Croydon (and thus not shop there) until he explained, and I haven’t. Clearly he doesn’t care that other disabled drivers may be staying away and not spending in the shops or restaurants because they are as confused as I am.
I wonder what he does care about?
C’mon Diana! Name and shame!
NOT Mayor Perry’s finest hour!
Has Piss Poor Perry EVER has a “finest hour” ?!
Funny, because Perry was the man who would stop using motorists to plug the massive council debt mountain. Listening but not hearing?
Graville Gardens? That has never been a road in Croydon !
It is probably Granville Gardens, Norbury which does have a dodgy-looking car park at the end of the road behind shops in the A23 where it changes from London Rd to Streatham High Rd.
Croydon also has a Granville Close (Park HIll) and a Greville Ave (Selsdon) but those are less likely. [I am a relentless proof-reader !]
That’s what Councillor Parker wrote, Jim.
In the absence of any formal announcement from the council, we’ve had to use the original source material
They have also sneaked in Ring Go in the parade in Old Coulsdon. Parking in now only free for one hour (fair enough) but you have to “buy” a ticket for the free hour even if you are only dropping in to Danny’s for some fish and chips. There is one sign mounted high up on a lamp post partially hidden by the hanging baskets so easy to miss, particularly if you park in one of the bays first four marked bays to pop into the shops at the end. I only noticed it because I could see a passer by staring at it and wondered what they were looking at. By all accounts, they had a parking attendant hovering around there when it started to pounce with a PCN on the unwary who stopped for only a few minutes.
And let’s noot be fooled by the optional extras – To avoid the 10p charge for optional confirmation and alert texts from RingGo, you can opt out at any time. You can do this permanently in the RingGo app settings or each time you use the app. To opt out, log into your RingGo account, go to Account, and then Notifications. From there, you can switch off any notifications you don’t want to receive
this kind of app is discriminatory to those who are not smart phone owners… not everyone has one. it’s not ‘inclusive’ at all…. someone told me the existing machines relied on 3G which got turned off for most providers apart from O2. Is this true?
What is it with Mayor Perry and these eleventh hour back downs and alterations without a proper official announcement? Has he realised all he will be doing is pushing cars that use the free parking period out into the streets and providing more congestion for residents who live in the locality with increased street parking overnight? Does Croydon Council have an allergy to good governance and communications?
In some ways, it is a good thing: Perry shits himself if residents’ associations in the south of the borough voice any complaint about his decisions and council actions. That much was plain before the General Election, where he delayed implementing the parking changes in case it cost Chris Philp votes. The only reason that New Addington’s Central Parade kept free overnight parking was purely one of political one, because Perry dare not piss off residents in an area where there are four council seats up for grabs.
But woe betide you if you are from a part of the borough that does not have a well-organised residents’ association, or where Perry’s Tories mates don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning council seats in 2026. He won’t be listening to you, ever.