§ 27. Mr. J. Harveyasked the Minister of Transport what considerations he took into account before giving his approval to the proposal to erect parking meters on both sides of Jermyn Street.
§ Mr. HaySection 85 of the Road Traffic Act, 1960, requires my right hon. Friend, when determining what parking places should be designated in a Parking Places Order, to consider both the interests of traffic and those of the owners and occupiers of adjoining property, with particular regard to the need for maintaining the free movement of traffic and reasonable access to premises. These were very carefully considered in relation to Jermyn Street.
§ Mr. HarveyIs my hon. Friend aware that when I wrote to him in 1959 asking whether alternative parking could not be permitted in Jermyn Street on alternate days, he replied, giving very good reasons, that it would be dangerous to relax the waiting restrictions; yet we have since been given parking facilities on both sides, which causes the moss hopeless congestion in Jermyn Street?
§ Mr. HayI am sorry to disagree with my hon. Friend, but the impression I have, supported by the information available to me and that from the Metropolitan Police, is that the installation of parking meters on this one-way street has enormously increased the flow of traffic and has made it much easier for vehicles to park and to obtain access to premises.