Forum Topic

Price Hike in Parking Fines to £120

Local parking fines will rise from £80 to £120 following the intervention of a Hammersmith and Fulham Councillor. Councillor Nick Botterill (Con), the Deputy Leader of Hammersmith and Fulham Council intervened in a London wide meeting to argue for increased rates of parking fines. The decision was made at the Conservative controlled London Councils - a body which represents all thirty three Councils in the Capital. The minutes of the meeting on 8th December show that Councillor Botterill objected when the meeting agreed to have an £80 fine for not displaying a ticket in a parking bay. Instead, Councillor Botterill argued for an increase to £120 and the meeting agreed to go with his recommended 50% hike in charges. The new charges will kick in from July. The funds raised from parking fines contribute directly to the Council's finances. Any increases are a means of raising extra funds for the local Council.Labour’s Cllr. Mike Cartwright raised the issue with his Tory opposite number at the last Council meeting and commented “At least Councillor Botterill had the good grace to look embarrassed when I raised this with him. Local people are genuinely shocked when they find out that it is one of our borough’s elected representatives who pushed through this massive increase in parking fines. He must have thought that nobody would go through the minutes of the meeting and that he would get away with it. He hasn’t”.

Stephen Cowan ● 6697d8 Comments

Don't want to condone violence, but understandable - I suspect I might have had a similar reaction.

Andrew Jones ● 6680d

£120 - outrageous!!!I make the effort to park legally or use public transport but I do have problem with parking fines being expensive as the whole business of councils putting in CPZs, not providing visitors passes in some areas, not providing carers passes for relatives of the elderly plus basically trying to rake it in when people park a car in a residential road makes me sick!Those who park responsibly should have nothing to fear, expanding the boundaries of 'legally' to raise cash is frightening.

Lynn Clark ● 6681d

Sorry guys for going off subject slightly, but here in Hemel Hempstead where I live I had a phone call from the hospital telling me that my Mother never had long to live and to get there as quick as I could, I parked in a one hour limit parking bay, after Mum passed away I came out to find a warden writing me a ticket, and after explaining to him why I had been over the hour, his reply was " thats not my problem people die every day" I was fined £140 for assault plus £30 for the parking offence..even the court was not interested as to why i did what I did, but at 62 years old it was well worth it..that was the first and last time I ever stood in the dock.Bruce Cooper

Bruce Cooper ● 6682d

Don't think you'll be successful - I think that in order to say that you're undertaking loading the item being loaded has to be of sufficient weight/size or whatever so that it wouldn't be easy to do the loading from further away to where you stopped.If it's a letter I'm sure they'll say you could have parked legally somewhere near by and carried the letter to the post box. Was it a ticket issued by a warden or a CCTV ticket?

Andrew Jones ● 6685d

It does which is why I'm refusing to pay.I've since found out that Westminster makes more money from parking than it does from its council tax.

Franco Hayes ● 6692d

"I stopped my car on a single yellow in Westminster and was given a ticket for a 2 mins stop when I was posting a letter."Doesn't that count as unloading, and therefore legal?

Richard Jennings ● 6693d

I know. I stopped my car on a single yellow in Westminster and was given a ticket for a 2 mins stop when I was posting a letter.I'm a bit surprised that our local Councillor should be the guy who made the charges go up though. It seems they are giving with one hand and taking with the other. That's politicians for you I suppose!

Franco Hayes ● 6693d

I have no problem with parking fines being expensive as I make the effort to park legally or use public transport.What I do object to is that some councils encourage their wardens to issue tickets even when they're pretty sure that offence is being committed - some kind of quota system where a warden has to issue a certain number of yeckets each day.  I'm not sure if H&F do this, but I have had to waste time contesting (successfully) a ticket issued to me by Westminster Council.Those who park legally (should) have nothing to fear.....

Andrew Broadbent ● 6695d