HC Deb 12 February 1964 vol 689 cc352-3
20. Mr. Hirst

asked the Minister of Transport what stage has been reached in his consideration of the possible adjustment of parking meter charges; and what procedure is to be adopted regarding the consideration of objections to proposals to increase charges, and requirements for public advertisement of such increase.

The Minister of Transport (Mr. Ernest Marples)

I am considering the comments of local authorities and others on all my proposals for improving the effectiveness of existing parking meter schemes in London, including the adjustment—up and down—of some meter charges. I expect to be able to make a statement shortly.

Specific proposals for altering charges will be publicly advertised as the Road Traffic Acts require, and I shall take objections into consideration.

Mr. Hirst

I thank my right hon. Friend for that valuable assurance, which is most helpful, but will he bear in mind that any proposal to increase parking meter charges, which I believe has been suggested in certain cases in the West End by as much as fourfold, would lead to a considerable amount of resentment among the motoring public and would be grossly unfair?

Mr. Marples

Each proposal will have to be judged on its merits and according to the evidence which is placed before me both by the applicant local authority and by individual objectors, who will have an opportunity to state their cases and give reasons why they wish a change to be made.

Mr. W. T. Rodgers

Will the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind the advantage of having much shorter parking periods at meters so that these can be used genuinely by short-term parkers and not as they are often now, and will be with higher charges, by commuters who are prepared to move their cars every two hours?

Mr. Marples

I shall certainly consider a shorter period, and that idea was included in the pamphlet which my Ministry sent to local authorities. The House must realise that until it costs more to park on the street than to park off the street people will continue to park on the street, to the detriment of moving traffic.

Captain Lichfield

Can my right hon. Friend say what progress is being made with his scheme for issuing parking licences to bona fide residents in residential areas which are zoned, or, alternatively, to permit local residents whose roads are metered to park for longer periods?

Mr. Marples

That is one of the points of principle mentioned in the pamphlet which the Ministry sent to local authorities. I asked each local authority to formulate proposals for its own area if it thought they were desirable. This is a local problem because each locality varies enormously, and I hope that local authorities will bring forward some such schemes for improvements, and we shall see what we can do when we get the objections to, and the support for, them.

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