CCTV Car still causing mischief !

Havering Council's CCTV smart cars are still giving out tickets left, right and centre it would seem, following a question to Council by Councillor Andrew Mann recently.

When the Cabinet member for StreetCare (Cllr Barry Tebbutt) was asked by Cllr Mann how many tickets the cars had issued to to date in the 2008 / 2009 year, the answer was an amazing 14,240 tickets(from 1st April to 23rd November).

This is on top of the 24,000 that was issued in the part year of 2007 / 2008, the full year to june was 26,837. In a second question by Cllr Mann, he asked how much income was produced by the CCTV car for the municipal year 2007/08.

The answer was £875,702.43, this was for only a part year, as the car did not start until mid June, so in a full year the figure would be over £1 million.

Click here to see previous story "CCTV Car is just a cash cow"

CCTV Car is just a Cash Cow

Residents Association spokesman for StreetCare and Parking, Cllr Andrew Mann has hit out over the amount of income the Councils new CCTV Smart Cars are making from issuing parking tickets by stealth across the Borough.

This Follows Havering’s Cabinet member for Parking (Cllr Barry Tebbutt) having to supply Cllr Mann with the breakdown of the amount of tickets issued since the car was introduced at a recent Full Council Meeting.

Mobile CCTV Parking Enforcement commenced on Tuesday 8th June 2007.

At the close of business on the 7th June 2008 (exactly 12 months since the cars started to operate) 26,837 CCTV Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) have been issued.

The total amount of tickets to be issued across the Borough since the cars started operating is 28,011

Cllr Mann said “The truth is finally out, the figures say it all, in the original report concerning the car, it was assumed they would only issue 2200 tickets a year, at an income of £80k. However, this is not the case, as they have been issuing that amount each month, with a much larger payment rate due to the photo evidence and have actually issued that amount in a month and issued over 26,000 tickets”

The worse place to be caught, is in Victoria Road, Romford, with over 8% of all tickets, with almost 1000 issued in this one street alone, second place in the top ten is Atlanta Blvd, Romford with 6% of all issued.

If the same payment rates were kept up throughout the year, then income could be well in excess of £1.7 million in a full year. The original report also suggested that the car would only be used around protecting school children at schools and on yellow zig zags and crossings.

Over 12 months ago, Cllr Mann warned about the possible future use of the covert cars and felt at the time they were introduced, caution should be taken and also warned that they should not be used as an income generator for the Council.

In a Town Hall press release dated 20/03/07, Conservative Cabinet Member Cllr Barry Tebbutt said “I have no problem with this car being used to target indiscriminate parking around schools and pedestrian crossings which poses a real danger to our children”. However, it would seem that this is not the case as there is no school or crossing near to these shops.

Cllr Mann said “It has now become quite clear that this car was only introduced to make money, it is just a cash cow, sucking the life out of our Town Centres, coupled with the new charges being introduced for smaller shopping centres such as Collier Row, Hornchurch, Upminster, Cranham, Elm Park and Rainham this Conservative Administration are going to kill of the smaller towns in Havering in favour of Romford Town Centre”

Breakdown of income and ticket numbers:

According to the answer at the last Full Council meeting (on 23rd July 2008), the total amount of tickets issued since 7th June 2007 and up to and including the 8th June 2008 comes to 26,837. That makes an average of just over 70 tickets a day, on 7 day week (which they work) and on 365 days a year that makes 25,513 tickets in a year.

So if we say that the average over the six months was 70 a day, I come up with the following income workings.

70 tickets issued, of that 90% are paid, 10% are lost due to bad DVLA data and non traceable.

90% of the daily average of 70 is 63 tickets issued that are paid.

Half are paid at discount 31.5 at £50 £ 1,575

Half are paid in full 31.5 at £100 £ 3,150

Total Income a day £ 4,725

Total Income a Week £ 33,075

Total Income a month £ 143,718

Times 365 days a year £1,724,625

That makes a grand total of £4,725 a day or £143,718 a month; these figures are worked out on only the first seven months issued. However, it does not take into consideration that each ticket issued was at the lower amount.

For example, I have worked each ticket out at the lower band of £100; however any ticket issued within the Romford Ring Road is £120 and £60 at discount. The sums could in fact be quite a bit higher, as I know for example; Atlanta Boulevard is the highest ticketed location in the Borough, which is inside the Ring Road.

With the above sum of £143,718 a month, this makes a grand total of £1,724,625 a year, or in simple terms £1.7m a year of parking tax being taken form Havering residents.

Another Car Park U Turn by Council

Following the decision by the Leader of the Council this week, to change some of the car park charges around the borough, the Residents Association has suggested it is no more than smoke and mirrors and proved that they were wrong all along.

The Administration have kept the 20p charge, for 2 hours, but lowered the charge for 3 hours to 50p, however they have kept all of the higher charges and will not consider scrapping them altogether. They will also stop charging for Sundays in Romford.

Residents Association Spokesman for Parking, Cllr Andrew Mann said “We have been telling the Administration for almost a year that their car parking strategy was wrong, this is now the second time that we have forced them to make changes to it, first we won the battle for Sunday charges in outlying car parks, and now we have forced them to change the charges for Romford on a Sunday”.

He went on “The fact that not one of the private car parks were charging for Sundays, has had any bearing on this, and you only paid in a Havering controlled car park, the Administration have yet again got it wrong”. The Leader of the Council has suggested that he has listened to people, however why did he not listen to all those 20,000 plus people who objected before he brought the charges in to the Borough”

When the Council announced its new Parking Strategy for the Borough last year, the Residents Association launched a Borough Wide campaign against it; over 20,000 residents signed the petitions that were presented to the Mayor last year.

Leader of the Residents Group on Havering Council, Cllr Clarence Barrett said “I am pleased that once again the Administration have been forced into an embarrassing climb down on one of their policies, I have said time and time again, that they should be consulting more with other Councillors in the Town Hall and more importantly, listening to their residents concerns, over 20,000 people, said they did not want charges, however they ploughed ahead anyway and are now being forced to make changes as they go along”

Cllr Mann said “It is a sorry state of affairs, this whole parking strategy of the Administration has been a farce from day one, with the CCTV car issuing over 24,000 tickets a year, instead of the projected 2,200, is it any wonder that the Council can reduce the fee to 50p having made something like an estimate £1.7 million out of the car alone in almost 12 months”

CCTV Car - Top 20 Schools

Cllr Mann has hit out at the Conservative Administration over the amount of tickets the CCTV car has been issuing, in less than 9 months the total is now up to 21,000, however the most disturbing reading was the breakdown of how many tickets have been issued around schools in that time.

In a recent question at Full Council, Cllr Mann asked for a top 20 breakdown of vehicles around schools issued parking tickets, the top two were Ardleigh Green at 58 and St Edwards (although it does not make clear if this is primary or senior) was at 50. However the average was less than 10 tickets in 9 months outside the rest of the schools. Not one school in the North Romford area was on the list.

Cllr Mann Said “This is just another example of the CCTV car being used to target motorists, the very people the car was designed to protect are being neglected, at the cars launch Councillors were told it was going to be used outside schools, but this is not the case, I feel Cllr Barry Tebbutt (The Cabinet Member) has a lot of explaining to do”.

He went on “Lets not forget that Cllr Tebbutt also told us the CCTV car would only issue 2200 tickets in a year, yet it done that in its first month of operation and at 21,000 tickets in 9 months it is well on its way to issuing 25,000 in a full year, which should bring in approx £1.7m if the sums are correct”.

The Residents Association successfully called for the Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committee to launch a review of the cars policy, this will then allow local residents to air their views and for the Cabinet to realise that they are using this car as a revenue income stream and not indeed improving road safety issues.

Question: The Breakdown of the Question is as follows.

Can you tell me how many tickets the CCTV Car has issued to vehicles parked around schools, with a breakdown of the top twenty across the Borough ?

Answer:

The database in Parking Services records the road in which each PCN is issued, but does not distinguish whether a ticket is issued in conjunction with enforcement around schools during the ‘school run’ period, or general enforcement at other times. However, records maintained by the parking attendants indicate that a total of 586 PCN’s have been issued, the top 20 schools being as follows;

Ardleigh Green 58
St. Edwards 50
St. Ursulas 35
Brady 25
Rainham Primary 18
Branfill 17
Brooklands 17
Crowlands 15
Chaffords 14
Gaynes 13
Dame Tipping 12
Mawney 11
St. Marys 10
St. Patricks 9
Nelmes 7
Engayne 7
Parklands 7
Whybridge 7
Harold Wood 7
Hilldene 7

Angry of Havering Webs Site Launched

Following the Residents Associations high profile campaign to highlight the wrongs of the Conservative Councils CCTV Smart Car, local residents and business people have got together and launched a web site to help increase the profile of this issue.

The site www.angryofhavering.com has only been up for less than two weeks and it has already had a massive 2000 plus hits, which we have to say is very impressive, that is even more hits than our own site.

Cllr Mann has been helping residents and shop keepers in the Collier Row area for over six months on this issue, he has been inundated with people contacting him about the car and how the tickets have been issued.

All of this has been reported to Council officers and printed in the local press, however what do our Conservative Councillors do ?

Nothing, they tried to kick a review of the car into the long grass last week, after Cllr Mann moved a motion at a Environment Scrutiny meeting in the Town Hall.

There are some interesting views and pictures on the web site, take a look at www.angryofhavering.com the picture in the "Highway Robbery" section is interesting !

CCTV Car under Scrutiny

Last night saw the Environment Overview & Scrutiny meeting at Havering Town Hall, approx 30 local residents had turned up to see what happened in relation to the CCTV smart Car, that was to be discussed at the meeting.

The whole meeting to be honest was a joke; the Conservative Members (there were four of them) attempted to kick the whole thing into the long grass and refused to discuss it, by suggesting that they need a report on the subject first, what nonsense, you hardly need a report as the thing has been in the press almost on a weekly basis for months now.

It was a shame that the Chairman (Tory, Cllr Binion) refused to allow any member of the public to speak, I know they are not allowed unless the Chairman allows them, however I think there would have been no harm in letting a few people speak.

Myself and Cllr Ray Morgon (R.A Cllr for Hacton ward) attempted to move the discussion on and were eventually successful in getting the committee to agree to our motion to review the CCTV smart car, however as of yet, we have not agreed the reviews groups make-up or its terms of reference. Just as soon as more is known on this issue, we will post it on the web site.

CCTV Car Review

Following a question from Cllr Mann to the Chairman of the Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committee at the last Council meeting, the chair has agreed to consider a review into the use of the car.

The issue was raised following hundreds of complaints to Residents Association Councillors about how the car was issuing tickets, from people being pictured with one foot hanging out of the door, to disabled drivers being wrongly issued tickets.

Recently the Council supplied information to Cllr Mann outlining the top ten locations for tickets across the Borough, with over 9% of the total tickets being issued in Atlanta Boulevard alone. See story below.

The Environment Overview & Scrutiny meeting is being held at Havering Town Hall on Thursday 6th March at 7.30pm, although this is a public meeting that anyone can attend, it is up to the Chairman if you can speak. So its over to Cllr Binion on that one !!

CCTV Car's Top Ten !

In a question to the Cabinet Member for StreetCare (Cllr Tebbutt) at Full Council last week, Cllr Andy Mann was given the breakdown of the top ten spots for CCTV issued Parking Tickets in Havering.

Cllr Mann also asked about how many tickets had been issued in total, the answer comes to a mind boggling, 15,300 since the car started, which according to Cllr Mann’s sums, could net the Council over £1.7 million in a full year.

Victoria Road, Romford, is the top location for tickets issued by the CCTV parking enforcement vehicle this year, with the top ten looking like this.

1. Victoria Road 880 (8%)
2. Atlanta Blvd 654 (6%)
3. Mungo Park Rd 292 (2.7%)
4. Brentwood Rd 242 (2.2%)
5. Camborne Ave 190 (1.7%)
6. Upminster Rd South 175 (1.6%)
7. North Street (Romford) 158 (1.5%)
8. Market Link 133 (1.2%)
9. Station Rd (Gidea Pk) 133 (1.2%)
10. Mercury Gardens 99 (0.9%)

Car Park Charges Begin

Over 3,500 people signed a petition in Collier Row objecting to car park charges being introduced to our Town Centre, if you add the other 16,000 from across the Borough, you get over 20,000 Havering Residents who objected to this terrible policy, so what does you Tory Council do, ignore the lot of them, they have not listened at all to what local people want.

On Monday, the wraps came off the car park signs and there it was for all to see, charging to park in our Town Centre car park, yes we know it maybe only be 20p for two hours, but how long will this stay at this level ?

Your Residents Association have been out and about in Collier Row over the last week, talking to hundreds of local people, almost everyone of them has been against introducing charges, they are all convinced, like us, that it is a bad move for Collier Row.

We will continue to object to these charges for Collier Row, there is no need to introduce them, it is all a money making exercise, we are aware of literature distributed by your M.P and Conservative Councillors suggesting they had no choice as it was down to Ken Livingstone and the Labour Government, what toffee, it is down to the overpaid Tory Cabinet members overspending budgets and not looking after the residents of Collier Row.

Parking Charges Start this Monday

Havering Council’s worst kept secret is about to be uncovered this Monday, the 28th January 2008, with car park charges introduced in Rex Close car park, at the rear of Tesco’s in Collier Row.

This is one of a number of anti Town Centre Policies that your Tory Council has introduced in Collier Row. All five of your Tory Councillors for Collier Row have endorsed this policy. Furthermore, in the absence of any objection raised by your local M. P. Andrew Rosindell, we can only presume he also supports this Tory Council Policy

However, don’t think about not paying, as the Tories other anti Collier Row Policy will catch you ! The Tory controlled Council will send along its CCTV smart car which will be hiding in a corner to get you. This car has issued over 12,000 tickets in 6 months and is set to make £1.7 million in a full year.

Your Residents Association in Collier Row has hit out at the arrogance of the Tory Controlled Council in ignoring 3500 residents in Collier Row and 22,000 across the borough who signed petitions against the car park charges.

Havering Park Councillor, Andrew Mann said “Thousands of people signed our petition against these car park charges, hundreds of residents and shop workers will be affected by these charges, the policy is going to be detrimental to our Town Centre and will drive people further away to shop.


The Residents Association group on Havering Council have been against these proposals ever since they were first looked at last year, we have presented petitions to the Mayor of Havering with over 22,000 signatures, it seems unbelievable that the Administration could ignore all of those people”.

The charges will apply from 7am until 6pm, Monday through to Saturday, with a max 4 hour stay and no return allowed. It might only be 20p for 2 hours, but how long will this last; we all know this is only the beginning of the slippery slope to future price increases.

Only your Residents Association has spoken out and objected to this Car Parking Policy, we feel that the 3500 local people, who signed our petition last year, are being totally ignored by the Tory Council and Member of Parliament.

Tell us what you think, drop us a line at haveringpark@hotmail.co.uk or write to us at CRM R.A. 380 Havering Road, Collier Row, Romford, RM1 4DE.

Copy of a letter to the Romford Recorder

To the Editor

With reference to the letter from the current Cabinet Member for StreetCare and Parking, Cllr Barry Tebbutt (letters 19th Oct 2007) I can confirm that he is incorrect in his assumption that the story printed by the Recorder concerning the estimated £1.7 million income is wrong and was based on figures for all tickets issued, not just the car.

I will repeat the figures here for his benefit; on the latest figures given by himself, the Council have issued an average of 2,500 tickets a month using the CCTV car, which gives an estimate of 30,000 tickets a year. At a cost of £100 at the full price and £50 at the discount rate, according to the councils own figures half are paid at discount and half at the full price, with a total of 90% of all tickets issued being paid, the other 10% would be for bad debtors or no vehicle keeper details or untraceable.

So that means an estimate for a full 12 months would be 13,500 tickets paid at £100 (which makes £1,350.000) and 13,500 tickets paid at £50 (which makes £675,000). That makes a total of some £2 million pounds. I accept that this is only an estimate based on current figures; however, the cars have issued three times the amount of tickets they thought it would issue in a whole year, in just three months.

The comments about “Tax on Parking” are ones expressed to me on an almost weekly basis from shopkeepers and residents who feel they are being targeted and issued tickets without any due care to common sense or within the law. Tickets have been issued for parking on the pavement, where the white lines have all been scrubbed away, but it is still legal to park there. More money needs to be spent on re-painting the white lines.

I have been inundated with letters, phone calls and e-mails about people’s experiences with the car; I have seen photos of a car stopped in the road, door open and someone’s leg half out of the door, the fact that they had a blue badge in the front window seems hear nor there to the operator. Many of our elderly and most vulnerable residents are blue badge holders and they are getting ticket after ticket as the car is not looking in the front window to see if it has a blue badge.

I have meet with three different shop keepers in Collier Row in the last week alone, who have expressed deep concern about the parking issues and have seen a loss in custom due to the CCTV car issuing tickets. With car parking fees to be introduced into our car parks in the New Year, those that drive a car in this borough have been well and truly done !

For the record, I have to say that nobody is suggesting that it is acceptable to park illegally, people that park on zig zags outside schools, on zebra crossings or obstructing pavements will always get a ticket as this sort of parking is quite obviously illegal.

The issue that residents have is the draconian manner in which this latest policy from the Conservative Administration running Havering Council is having on their lives and that in many peoples opinion, are starting to suck the blood from our smaller town Centres, the Town that I represent, Collier Row, being a prime example.

Cllr Andrew Mann
Residents Association
Town Hall

CCTV car is set to make £1.7 Million in 12 months

Residents Association spokesman for StreetCare and Parking, Cllr Andrew Mann has hit out over the amount of income the Councils new CCTV Smart Cars are making from issuing parking tickets by stealth across the Borough.

This Follows Havering’s parking Manager supplying Cllr Mann with the breakdown of the amount of tickets issued since the car was introduced.

Cllr Mann said “The truth is finally out, the figures say it all, in the original report concerning the car, it was assumed they would only issue 2200 tickets a year, at an income of £80k. However, this is not the case, as they have been issuing that amount each month, with a much larger payment rate due to the photo evidence and are on target to issue over 26,000 tickets”

If the same payment rates are kept up, the income could be well in excess of £1.7 million in a full year. The original report also suggested that the car would only be used around protecting school children at schools and on yellow zig zags and crossings.

Cllr Mann met with shop owners and business people in Collier Row after they spoke out earlier this month about the targeting of their shops, one of those was B & D Tyres in Collier Row who have been trading for over 35 years. Dave Fuller from B & D said at the time “This is just daylight robbery, we get this CCTV car here at least 2 or 3 times a day hitting on customers and delivery vehicles and its just not on” Now, due to the continued use of this car, one of his major suppliers “Motex” of Romford is refusing to make deliveries due to the amount of tickets his delivery vans have been issued with.

Over 12 months ago, Cllr Mann warned about the possible future use of the covert cars and felt at the time they were introduced, caution should be taken and also warned that they should not be used as an income generator for the Council.

In a Town Hall press release dated 20/03/07, Conservative Cabinet Member Cllr Barry Tebbutt said “I have no problem with this car being used to target indiscriminate parking around schools and pedestrian crossings which poses a real danger to our children”. However, it would seem that this is not the case as there is no school or crossing near to these shops.

Cllr Mann said “It has now become quite clear that this car was only introduced to make money, it is just a cash cow, sucking the life out of our Town Centres, coupled with the new charges being introduced for smaller shopping centres such as Collier Row, Hornchurch, Upminster, Cranham, Elm Park and Rainham this Conservative Administration are going to kill of the smaller towns in Havering in favour of Romford Town Centre”

He continues, “Whilst I chaired the Collier Row Regeneration Committee, we spent a lot of time and money in trying to improve the shopping experience in our Town Centre, the provision of parking restrictions is always going to be difficult, but it appears that this particular parade of shops is being picked on”, he went on "Along with car park charges in our town centres, this is yet more proof this Administration has no sympathy for small businesses”. "While they are wasting time targeting this parade, other parts of the Borough - particularly outside schools - are being neglected"

Sunday Parking charges U-Turn by Council

Havering Council have announced a spectacular U-Turn, concerning the proposed parking charges for Collier Row, however the measures do not go far enough concerning the recently agreed Parking Policy. The Tory controlled Council have this week announced that they will not charge for Sunday parking in our town Centre, however, you will still have to pay Monday to Saturday.

Before the summer, Residents Association Councillors from across the Borough launched petitions in the outlying town Centres and collected almost 20,000 objectors to the proposals to start charging in areas such as Collier Row, Hornchurch, Elm park, Rainham, Cranham & Upminster.

Cllr Andrew Mann said “Whilst we welcome the decision, not to charge parkers on a Sunday, the Council have still ignored some 20,000 people by continuing with their proposals to charge six days a week, this is just another tax on shopping and will be detrimental to our town centres”.

Signatures were collected from around the Borough and include:

Collier Row 2236
Upminster 4715
Cranham 2803
Hornchurch 2997
Elm Park 2629
Cherry tree 344
On line Poll 551

The petitions were handed into the Mayor at a recent Council meeting.

Mawneys coordinator, Graham Price said “ Although the Administration has been forced into a U-Turn on this issue, it only deals with Sunday parking, but the charges will still apply in Romford Town centre, our smaller shopping centres will suffer with week day charges”

Cllr Mann concluded “They have still not looked at the parking charges for weekday parking in our small town centres and our argument is still the same, more needs to be done to support out of town shopping, our local communities will suffer if these charges are introduced”.

Romford Recorder Letters Page

A copy of a letter published in this weeks Romford Recorder, concerning the on-going issues with Havering Councils CCTV smart car.

To the Editor

Thank you for highlighting the issue with Havering Councils CCTV camera car, I have been inundated with letters, phone calls and e-mail concerning the manner in which the car seems to operate and issue around individual cases.

These have come not just from businesses all over the Borough, but from residents who live anywhere from a main road to small little closes and they all paint a horror story about the way the car seems to operate.

Nobody is suggesting that we should not issue tickets, its all excepted I’m sure that you can not park on double yellow lines, zig zags outside schools, disabled badge offences or just mount the pavement and park were you like.

The information that I am collecting on behalf of the Residents Association group on Havering Council will help me and my colleagues, to call for a review, on how the car is deployed across the Borough.

If you would like to write to me, please do so via the Town Hall or e-mail me at andrew.mann@havering.gov.uk. Last week my address was printed incorrect, so if you think you have not had a reply from me, please send your e-mail again in case it did not come through.

Regards

Cllr Andrew Mann
Residents Association
Town Hall

CCTV Parking Car Review

Cllr Mann will be calling for a review at Havering Council into the use of its CCTV car and to examine how and when tickets are issued.

Cllr Mann said "Since the story broke in the local press this week, I have been inundated by phone calls and e-mails from residents telling me of their horror stories concerning the car"

One of the biggest complaints from residents seems to be around the lack of proper white lines in the pavement parking bays, across the Borough, cars that have parked in the same spot for 20 years are now receiving tickets.

The next biggest issue concerns small residential streets, in particular Cul de sacs and dead end roads. It would seem again, that cars that have parked for years on part of the pavement are now being penalised.

In one particular close in Collier Row, the dustcart is unable to get down the road unless cars on at least one side park on the pavement. However last week at the same time the dustcart was in the road, with cars moving onto the pavement to allow it access, the CCTV car followed the dustcart down the road.

Cllr Mann said "At the moment we have no way of knowing if any tickets were issued, but if they were, it would seem like another example of Haverings new parking policy not working, i will wait and see if anyone contacts me"

Cllr Mann went on "There is nothing wrong with proper parking enforcement around schools, crossings, double yellow junctions and abuse of disabled parking spaces, after all that is what the Conservative Cabinet member (Cllr Tebbutt jnr) said at the time of its launch, it would seem only three months later that is not the case".

Parking CCTV car causing Chaos

Cllr Andrew Mann, the Residents Associations spokesman for the Environment has hit out this week over the tactics being used by Havering Council in deploying its two CCTV parking enforcement cars.

Cllr Mann has met with Dave Fuller, the owner of B & D Tyres in Collier Row after the company which has been based in Collier Row for over 35 years feels it is being targeted by the Council along with other shops and businesses in the small parade in Collier Row Road.

Over 12 months ago, Cllr Mann warned about the possible future use of the covert cars and felt at the time they were introduced, caution should be taken and also warned that they should not be used as an income generator for the Council.

In a Town Hall press release dated 20/03/07, Conservative Cabinet Member Cllr Barry Tebbutt said “I have no problem with this car being used to target indiscriminate parking around schools and pedestrian crossings which poses a real danger to our children”. However, it would seem that this is not the case as there is no school or crossing near to these shops.

The issue has now intensified following the decision by Romford car parts firm “Motex” refusing to delivery to garages across the borough unless they can guarantee off street parking following their vehicles receiving a huge amount of parking tickets.

Dave Fuller of B & D tyres said “This is just daylight robbery, we get this CCTV car here at least 2 or 3 times a day hitting on customers and delivery vehicles and its just not on”.

Cllr Mann said, “Whilst at the garage this week, I witnessed one of the delivery vehicles drop off some parts, it pulled up and was no longer than 3 minutes, I do not consider that to be an unreasonable amount of time to allow deliveries to be made, to issue tickets in this way does indeed to be picking on the little people”

He continues, “Whilst I chaired the Collier Row Regeneration Committee, we spent a lot of time and money in trying to improve the shopping experience in our Town Centre, the provision of parking restrictions is always going to be difficult, but it appears that this particular parade of shops is being picked on”, he went on "Along with car park charges in our town centres, this is yet more proof this Administration has no sympathy for small businesses”. "While they are wasting time targeting this parade, other parts of the Borough - particularly outside schools - are being neglected"

Cllr Mann has also announced that the Residents Association will be asking questions and conducting there own review within the Town Hall on this issue and would like anyone who owns a shop or business that feels that they are being targeted to contact him at the Town Hall. The same applies to residents that may have been hit with a penalty, if it has been issued unduly, the Residents Association want to know about it.

Car Parking Petition reaches almost 20,000

Last week, Havering Council held its full Council meeting and this gave the Residents Association across the Borough to hand in our car park petition to the Mayor.

Graham Price and myself were present and i handed in the Collier Row part of the petition with over 2000 signatures, 2236 to be exact and this figure still goes up each week.

The new measures propose parking charges in ALL council car parks 7 days a week, charging disabled drivers for parking, additional waiting restrictions in residential areas and disc parking largely replaced by 'Pay & Display'.

Residents’ Associations across the borough launched petitions opposing the proposals. A grand total of 16,285 registered their disapproval of the proposed charges with Upminster (4,715), Cranham (2,803), Collier Row (2,236), Hornchurch (2,997), Elm park (2,629) Cherry Tree (344) and the internet petition (561) making up the total.

Although to date, the Conservative Administration running the Town Hall have refused to budge on this issue, we are still hopeful that they will take notice, almost 20,000 have objected to date on this terrible new policy.

It will affect our smaller shopping centres and drive people away to bigger shops such as Tesco at Gallows Corner and Lakside. I accept that the charge at the moment is only small, 20p, but how long before this becomes 50p and then a £1 and then £2, we will wait and see.