CROYDON IN CRISIS: Borough’s Mayor tries to swerve embarrassment by falsely claiming he is ‘introducing’ the free overnight car parking that he removed one month ago.
By our motoring correspondent, JEREMY CLACKSON
Three days after Inside Croydon broke the news that the council was to go into reverse gear over the night parking charges it introduced only last month, and the Town Hall’s propaganda department has just got round to confirming the latest U-turn by Mayor Jason Perry.
Deceptive: Perry’s council claims it is ‘introducing’ free parking, when overnight parking was free until just a month ago
Piss-poor Perry and the council have been more than a tad deceitful in the way they have presented the change of decision to charge motorists for parking their vehicles in seven car parks around the borough, claiming to be “introducing” free overnight parking, when free overnight parking had been available as recently as mid-July.
“Croydon Council has some good news for the borough’s night owls,” trills the misleading council website. “Overnight parking in a number of district centre car parks will now be free,” they say, failing to state that parking in the car parks from 6pm to 7am had always been free before, until charges were introduced by Mayor Perry last month.
“The waived charges went live on Tuesday 13 August.”
‘More consistent’: it was less than a month ago that the council imposed the night-time parking charges
So it took the council more than a week to get around formally announcing its own charging U-turn – with ward councillors having otherwise intervened, asking residents’ associations in their area to do the council’s press office’s job for them and spread the word.
The removal of overnight car parking charges will help residents “if they need to use car parking facilities late at night which will also help to boost the local nighttime economy”, the brains trust that runs the council has belatedly realised. This was exactly what the council had been told before they decided to go ahead an try to milk even more money from Croydon’s long-suffering residents.
The council’s statement today confirms which six car parks are to have free overnight parking restored. Central Parade in New Addington never had any charges imposed, mostly because Mayor Perry is scared of losing the three council seats held by the Tories across the two wards there.
The council’s free overnight car parks list is:
- Clifford Road car park in South Norwood, SE25 5JH (26 parking bays)
- Garnet Road Car park in Thornton Heath, CR7 8RD (28 parking bays)
- Granville Gardens car park in Norbury, SW16 4EU (109 parking bays)
- Lion Green Road car park in Coulsdon, CR5 2NL (95 parking bays)
- Russell Hill Place car park in Purley, CR8 2LT (51 parking bays)
- Sanderstead Road car park, CR2 0LY (32 parking bays)
- Central Parade car park in New Addington, CRO 0JL (208 parking bays).
“This will make it fairer, simpler and more consistent across Croydon for our residents and visitors who need to park at night in our district centres, which will help them save money on an evening out or when working late,” according to the same Mayor Perry who introduced the overnight parking charges just a month earlier.
A senior member of one of the residents’ associations who told Perry that overnight parking charges are a very bad idea told Inside Croydon: “Another small victory for us and common sense.”
Charging hikes: only owners of the oldest vehicles escape a hefty increase in the charges they will be expected to pay for the privilege of parking on a street near their home
None of this changes other parking changes, and parking fee hikes, being imposed by Mayor Perry, as the council has switched off all its parking meters and forced motorists to use the RingGo parking app.
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.
Double his money: under Perry, parking permit charges have gone up by huge amounts
Perry’s changes include massive reductions in the discount for drivers of electric vehicles, and generally a borough-wide hike in the cost of parking.
Perry is increasing the annual resident on-street parking permit fee for some residents by more than 500%, while other Croydon Council Tax-payers now facing the prospect of paying more than £1,600 per year for the privilege of parking their car in one of the council’s town centre car parks.
Since 2023, Perry has also increased Council Tax for Croydon residents by 21%.
Read more: Perry puts workplace parking charges proposal to cabinet
Read more: MP calls on Met to investigate Tories’ ‘vile cesspit’ groups
Read more: Perry slow to stop cars parking in town centre pedestrian zone
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ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: In January 2024, Croydon was named among the country’s rottenest boroughs for a SEVENTH successive year in the annual round-up of civic cock-ups in Private Eye magazine
Why doesn’t Perry concern himself with the large vehicle parked in Croydon several years ago and refuses to budge until she’s paid to leave? Katherine Kerswell.
Maybe, contrary to some people’s opinions, she’s doing a good job.
Certainly when you compare her with her predecessors, Jo Negrini and Nathan Elvery (iCs passim) that’s an easy achievement.
What’s harder is trying to clean up the mess they left, made with a lot of help from the councillors who mucked things up and simply walked away from their problems, without paying for them, politically, financially or judicially.
That’s not a view shared by those who have to work with her, Arfur
In the absence of complaints or, heaven forbid, evidence that she’s incompetent or intolerable or both, all we have to go on right now are snide comments. Her critics should put up or shut up
There’s plenty of evidence. Loads of complaints.