09 May Parking Restrictions across London causing problems for Londoner’s
Pic: Red Route in Central London on East cheap
Business’ are struggling to operate due to the lack of parking in their area I first discovered this in the area of Borough however it is a much wider problem throughout London
Stress, frustration and anger. These are the daily feeling for many drivers, like Stanley Richardson who are trying to park and deliver goods across over the past 20 years is now experiencing due to increasing parking restrictions. He even goes on the say “Well it’s getting more and more dangerous to park” This is mainly due to the lack parking and more parking restrictions in London. Stanley is an HGV driver working around London he delivers good across London. Not only is traffic an issue, that he has to fight through, now finding somewhere legal to park near some of the retailers that he provides goods for a large problem that he faces on a daily basis. He goes on to say “I can’t park on the main road, so I have pull into small ally ways to park” This is where the problem of parking is becoming a larger and lager as it is these small alley ways and side street that are being added to the red route , which restrict parking even further for business.There are two main differences on different streets of London. When I looked at Borough High Street, where I went to look at to see businesses affected by the red route. They have double red lines across the high street and on the corners of road such as Union Street. However as you walk down these streets, they become double yellow lines. What is the difference? After researching and looking to see what the difference was I found out that. A Double red line on the red route means (according to the Highway Code) that unless the person is a licensed taxi driver or has a disable blue badge, they are prohibited to park on a double red line. What does this mean for drivers? For people like Stanley it means that in-order to be able to park his lorry near a shop that he is delivering goods to, he will be running the risk of being fined while he parks in these streets, Throughout London, this parking problem , is only developing and becoming more and more of a problem.
Borough High Street in the heart of London. It starts near London Bridge station and is one long road that extends through towards the A3 and Newington Causeway (Which leads on to Elephant and Castle). Along the road there is several business with recognisable names and small business’. Such as Costa, Pret Manger, Tesco, Premier Inn and more. A cosmopolitan area that is in walking distance from London not only filled with these high street names but also small business as well. Many of the these business claim that the Red Route has caused large amounts of problems for them. Clouldio from Nelson’s Bar on Borough High Street. he claimed that the red route had “Detrimental effect on my business, I must say is the red route, bus lane and The Congestion Charge”. Through out Borough High Street their is two bus land on both sides of the road. This only adds to the restrictions and lack of ability for both customers to park and to allow delivery drivers to stop and unload as well. Further up from Nelson’s Bar , on Borough High Street is Copyprint LTD and Nick Pembury who is also affecting by the lack of parking in area of Borough. Nick said ” Does a bit. Trinity Street, has restricted parking”, With no parking on the main high street due to the large amount of traffic from side of the road and limited parking in the road leading off of Borough Hight Street, I looked for the nearest car parks in the area and looked to see if the where assessable for the business of Borough High Street . The nearest car parks to Borough High Street, are on Union Street and there is limited parking near the station, as well. However despite the small amount of parking available for the business’ around the area of Borough High Street.
There is one business that this lack of parking simply is not enough for. Jordan Thompson work for Leonard’s Lease, an estate agents in Borough High Street, as well. Jordan explain to me that he requires a parking space , as he has to drive around and show clients to different properties and when he returns from taking people out on location, he struggle to find a parking space. This results is him either having to drive the clients around to find a space or having to drop them off back at the estate agents (Leonard’s Lease) and then they have to wait for him to park or alternatively they drive around with him to find a parking space. Jordan said The parking restrictions “Stop our customers from using our business. Parking bays get full in fifteen to twenty minutes. It’s also almost a ten minute walk from the nearest car park” I researched the nearest car park to Leonard’s Lease and according to Google maps it would take 12 minutes to walk. This may not seem like a long way to walk, however for people who are disable and struggle to be able to work to different places, this is a long way to walk. This shows that the parking in Borough High Street is not good enough for the people of Borough High street using the parking facilities in the area. In response to he issues in Borough High street I was able to speak to a member of Borough Council to see what could be done about the problem. Cllr David Nobbs , from Southwark Council explained to be that “Loading Bays will be put back after work at Tower Bridge is completed” Even though this was some time there is a huge problem parking in and around the area of Borough .
The double red lines across Borough High Street road, causing business’ problems
Not only is it business’ struggling in the area of Borough but it is customer and other residents. John Beterson who is a black cab driver in he centre of London and is being effected by not being able to park on the street of of London to pick up customer and park near where they require to go to . John Said “Pulling over to pick people up is very hard. There is simply no where to pull over and pick customers up.” John explained to me that he makes his living on being able to park his cab on a daily basis and that without being able to pull over and pick up customers he could not do is job probably. However not all cab drivers feel the same way as John, I went to speak to a few more drivers to see if they all have the same experience. Daniel Chards is also a Black Cab driver and has a different perspective of the situation. “Of course the parking regulations are too strict there is simply no where to park. However I do see why there these (red) routes are in place. Many a time I’ve been stuck in traffic and the reason why is because some has pulled over illegally to pick someone up or to drop something off” As shown this is a problem that is affecting a large variety of people and is causing mass disruption, but can be down?
Where can you park in London?
I have carried my research to be able to understand the problem and to see if there is a say to be find whys for people to be able to park. I have looked for some of the different parking zones in London. According to www.findfreeparking.co.uk here are some of the places where people are able to access and parking throughout London;
- Hacking Parking zone
- City of London Parking
- Southwark Parking zone
- Westminster Parking zone
- Kennington and Wandsworth Parking zone
This has been a huge problem across London for some time and it is only increasing, as the more vehicle and the more people driving and parking in London on a daily basis. Therefore I believe that this is not a problem for councils a lone and that based on what I have investigated government needs to address the parking problem in London. In-order to reduce congestion and to give greater opportunities for business’ to be able to park, in street that are near high streets and commercial areas.
