"Rail-hopping" commuters who park near Tube and rail stations could be forced to park elsewhere after Barnet Council passed a new Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) last week.
A controlled parking zone is to be extended around Hendon Thameslink station between Park Road and Garrick Road on West Hendon Broadway, covering the Perryfields Estate and up Station Road to Vivian Avenue, following a decision from Barnet Council's Hendon environment sub-committee last week.
The £114,000 scheme means residents, businesses and visitors parking in that area will have to buy annual parking permits, leaving commuters using the Hendon Thameslink railway station to fight it out for space in the station's car park.
Commuters Robert Sassoon and Heather Luntz of Elm Close, Hendon, said there were not enough spaces in the station car park, and the new scheme would make the journey to work in central London a nightmare.
"We feel that the council has taken the view that commuters are not real people," Mr Sassoon said. "What upsets me is that the council has not tried to contact any of the commuters."
Jean Ivatt, from Woolmead Residents' Association, expected cars to be displaced into other parts of West Hendon not covered by the controls.
"In my mind, it isn't that we necessarily want to pay for the privilege of parking outside our own house, but those of us who voted for it feel it is a necessary evil," she said.
Barnet Council's cabinet member for environment, Councillor Geof Cooke, said other CPZs are being considered around Tube stations such as Brent Cross and Hendon Central.
December 18, 2001 15:10
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