Date:

11/05/07

Residents and businesses are being asked for their views on the general arrangement of controlled parking zones (CPZs) in Camden.

In a consultation that started this week (8 May 2007) Camden Council wants to hear the local community’s views about the current CPZ arrangements. People will be asked to fill out a questionnaire giving their comments on:

• Sizes of zones
• Hours and days of parking controls
• Arrangements for business permit holders and motorcycle bays
• Potential locations for electric vehicle charging.

The questionnaire will be sent out to more than 1,000 local groups and to all ward councillors, and the consultation will be advertised in the council's residents' magazine Your Camden.

Individuals will also be able to download a copy from the council's website - Consultation on controlled parking zone (CPZ) arrangement in Camden, ring 020 7974 6389 to be sent a copy by post, or pick it up from their local library

The consultation ends on 22 June 2007.

Cllr Mike Greene, Executive Member for Environment, Camden Council, said:

“We want to listen to what Camden residents and businesses have to say about CPZs in their area. CPZs aim to reflect the council’s policies for traffic and the environment and also local people’s knowledge about parking conditions. By asking people what they think, we can establish whether we need to review arrangements in some areas to make them fairer and clearer.”

The consultation is not putting forward specific proposals about details of individual zones at this stage. The council will look at the concerns and suggestions raised in the consultation, and if the results show changes are needed, a rolling programme of reviews will then be developed further1.

Notes to editors

Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) are carefully defined areas in which all the kerb side parking space is controlled. This is to manage the demand for parking space and ensure residents are able to park safely in the limited space available. CPZs are made up of designated residents’ bays, pay and display meters, and waiting and loading restrictions.

1 For any areas that need to be reviewed, the council will set up a Consultation Steering Group of representatives from the local community, with whom it will work to prepare a further consultation programme for these zones. All individual households and businesses affected will be consulted at this stage and the earliest any reviews could start is anticipated to be in late 2007.

The London Borough of Camden has 19 Controlled Parking Zones and the hours of operation vary depending on local needs identified in the consultation exercises undertaken to establish each zone or during subsequent reviews. Several zones have ‘sub’ areas, also identified by consultation, which have different hours of control and ‘buffer’ zones which include parking bays that may be used by permit holders from two or more adjoining zones.

Camden Council has only introduced CPZs in areas where there is majority support, and all new CPZs introduced since 1998 were reviewed after approximately six months of operation. Others have been reviewed following representations from local communities. To date, no review has resulted in a majority in favour of zone removal.