Lib Dems branded a "waste of space" after council say no to reinstating 200 hour visitor parking in South Sutton and Belmont

12:40pm Tuesday 15th January 2013 in News

Campaigners called for an increase in visitor parking Campaigners called for an increase in visitor parking

Neighbours calling for the reinstatement of a pledge to give them 200 hours of visitor parking each year branded Liberal Democrats an "obsolete party" after their pleas were rejected.

People living in the Sutton South and Belmont controlled parking zones (CPZs) used to get 200 hours of free parking for visitors until this was scaled back to 100 hours in 2007 and then 50 hours in 2009 to save Sutton Council money.

Angry members of the Sutton South, Cheam and Belmont Local Committee decided to use the group's allowance to spend just under £8,000 on reinstating the 200 hour scheme at a meeting in July.

But rules meant the decision had to be referred to councillors as the group does not have the power to go against council policy. Councillors had the chance to give the decision the go-ahead at a meeting on Monday night but Liberal Democrats voted down the proposal on the grounds it would cost too much.

The ruling sparked anger from the public gallery with one man shouting: "You're a waste of space, all of you. You're an obsolete party after this".

Conservatives, led by Councillor Tony Shields, said the plan would only cost under £8,000 - around £2 per house - but Liberal Democrats claimed the Tories got their calculations wrong and the cost would actually be £100,000.

Coun Jill Whitehead said: "Sutton already has 50 hours of free parking, which is the most generous in the entirety of London. We do not believe that we should impose further financial burdens on the taxpayer when we have already made £30m savings over the last 3 years and are being asked to make more in the near future."

Coun Shields said the ruling is part of an anti-driver campaign from the council saying punishing the motorist "is like Viagra for Lib Dems".

He added: "Let's remember we are elected to serve the residents not punish them. I have a letter from a resident assured by a Lib Dem councillor that the 200 hours was safe forever - but forever means up until the next election for Lib Dems."

Comments(20)

Margaret_Hale says...
1:11pm Tue 15 Jan 13

Shame on the people of Sutton who allow themselves to be tyrannised by a bunch of totally wet LibDems. Why do they keep voting for people who are going to make their lives worse?

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Giles C says...
2:12pm Tue 15 Jan 13

People in Sutton will still vote them in come 2014...most people who vote cant see through the Lib Dems..its astonishing.

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GreenBrown says...
2:20pm Tue 15 Jan 13

Surely it doesn't cost anything to allow residents to park in their own street. What the Council mean is that the loss of revenue from parking charges is too much for them to bear. Councils should not rely on this tax (which is what it is) to run the borough. Residents should have a free permit to park outside their houses, full stop. The purpose of permits is to stop commuters parking in residential streets. As with parking wardens, the priority now is revenue and not traffic flow and good civic service through common sense.

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David7 says...
4:09pm Tue 15 Jan 13

Bang on GreenBrown.

And this from a council that wants to spend £25,000 on a bandstand at Wallington Library that nobody wants, and £750,000 of TfL’s (ie. our) money to open a side gate at Sutton Station.

In any other walk of life, this would be called malfeasance.

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DAVD729 says...
5:16pm Tue 15 Jan 13

As a Sutton resident I feel I must just say don't complain about council policy.They have done a consistent job for many years and have made many iconic achievements.£3 million pound for a High Street that is worse than it was previously needing further spend to correct all the issues that went unnoticed,wasting money on stupid schemes like the Life Centre to mention a few - I could go on but feel I'll be limited by word count.Just one question to the residents of Sutton - Why do you keep voting them in?

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Monstermunch17 says...
9:03pm Tue 15 Jan 13

Why not? Got to come good some time.

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Sutton53 says...
10:51pm Tue 15 Jan 13

How predictable a response from the 'Lib Dems' to any idea that they haven't thought of, especially one from a 'Conservative' Councillor. If they want to talk cost, might I suggest that they look to their own laurels and think back to the carbuncles and dubious ideas that have cost the residents of this Borough a fortune! What are they afraid of? An idea that might just allow the 'Conservatives' to look in a far better light than the 'lib dems'? Or that they hadn't thought of the idea themselves?

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GreenBrown says...
12:45am Wed 16 Jan 13

Lib Dems, Conservatives, its all the same. During the years the Conservative party controlled the council 1965 - 1986 they allowed many of our great buildings to be demolished and replaced with the eyesores we see today (some already knocked down, which says it all) and started Sutton on its way to becoming the new Croydon. From 1986 to the present day the Lib Dems have continued with this aim. Their biggest contribution yet being the expansion of the nightlife in the centre of Slutton starting in the mid 90s which changed the place forever. I didn't want the nice town of Sutton to end up like this, who did? Also giving planning permission to knock down so many great houses to build flat after flat increasing the population and destroying the character of the place. It is true that the Lib Dems have made some spectacular mistakes and wasted a lot of money on vanity projects such as the Life Centre and the High street revamp, which if my memory serves me correctly was repaved and done up in the late 90s but i'm sure the Conservatives wouldn't of done much better. Neither party deserves to be voted for.....I wonder why people do. I suppose the demographics of Slutton are changing and for new comers it probably looks to be a great place to live compared to other areas but it could have been so much better...as it once was.

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Simon Densley says...
11:08am Wed 16 Jan 13

The last three full council meetings have been dominated by Conservatives fighting on behalf of local residents against obstinate Lib Dems voting through their own agenda regardless of how it affected local people. This time is was residents’ parking. Last time is was the residents of Corbet Close having the own homes compulsorily purchased for less than their value and the time before that is was Sutton’s football clubs being left out in the cold while the Lib Dems handed over huge sums to Chelsea FC instead.

Sutton’s up and coming Conservatives are by and large young, energetic, tenacious (by necessity) people who care about their local area and want to listen to local residents. Many of them weren’t even born in 1986 when the Conservatives last controlled Sutton Council. We may only have 11 actual Councillors (compared to 42 Liberal Democrats), but that small number of Conservatives are consistently demonstrating how hard we are all prepared to fight for local residents against the monolithic Lib Dems and the many other problems local people face.

I must add GreenBrown, that we care deeply about continual down marketing and overdevelopment of Sutton, just look at the efforts Tony Shields and his team constantly goes to to try and protect his ward, Sutton South. Conservatives do deserve to be voted for in Sutton. Indeed they are the only ones who will fight for local people.

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GreenBrown says...
3:29pm Wed 16 Jan 13

The problem the Conservatives have is that all the rich people (or soon to be) who sold their houses to the developers over the last 30 years, making way for the multitude of flats we now have, were Tory voters. They've all moved further out and taken the vote with them. No wonder the Lib dems allowed so much development to go ahead. I can't see the Tories gaining control of the council anytime soon. What your left with, with any real voting force, is the people who don't mind living in this increasingly multicultural, cosmopolitan, built-up town and all that that entails....Lib dem supporters.

I'm afraid the young age of Suttons up and coming Conservatives is of no comfort. Most people born after the early 80s have been brainwashed and indoctrinated into the political correctness ideology, something that is alien to this country but has now taken over everything. Those saddled with that outlook in life are not going to sort out the real problems this country/area has. I mean, if someone really wanted to make a difference to this country and make it great again, why would that someone sign up to represent any of the 3 main parties, the ones that have been in charge and responsible for its decline over the last 50 years plus? Within those parties confinements, truly great ideas and actions can never flourish because not only must the party line be obeyed but most important of all....the powers that be don't want to change anything. Their alright jack, why rock the boat and risk losing power and control.

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Michael Pantlin says...
4:00pm Wed 16 Jan 13

Waste of space yes but Suttonites go on and on returning them to power - Normal for Sutton. Demolish the public toilets in the parks and force a bandstand on us - bonkers. Will make a good smoking or yoof shelter when our ear drums are not being battered by performance when we'd rather have a bit of peace and quiet and be able to hear ourselves speak.

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F M Arouet says...
10:20pm Wed 16 Jan 13

What does JIll Whitehead mean by :

"We do not believe that we should impose further financial burdens on the taxpayer ?"

It is the taxpayer that now has to pay for the 150 extra hours in parking vouchers which used to be FREE.

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Giles C says...
11:25am Thu 17 Jan 13

Jill Whitehead is a true eco nutter that doesnt care about anyone or anything except her beliefs...
Totally Barking..

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Marie from Sutton says...
10:08pm Thu 17 Jan 13

For the first time ever, I will be voting labour. They will fight to keep our local hospital open. They will make sure that the less well off are better cared for and if they make us bankrupt, well, who cares, at least, they are a moral conscience.

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GreenBrown says...
10:41pm Thu 17 Jan 13

Marie from Sutton wrote:
For the first time ever, I will be voting labour. They will fight to keep our local hospital open. They will make sure that the less well off are better cared for and if they make us bankrupt, well, who cares, at least, they are a moral conscience.
And so it continues and nothing ever changes. So you will be voting for the NewLabour party who for 13 years, after 18 years of Tory rule before them, helped to create a situation where hospitals and all manner of other public institutions are going under or very nearly going bankrupt. That's your solution???? Really!!! I know this is about local government but it's all the same in the end. Labour closed hospitals during their time in office also.

Labour have 'a moral conscience'.....is that a joke?

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LBSresident says...
3:03pm Sat 19 Jan 13

it is utterly hilarious how anyone would consider voting for labour given where we are, short memories then.

anyway, the liberals are a shambles for this area and their idealogical zeal means they cannot stop spending money on clapped out vanity projects, the high street and the exceedingly expensive bus stop come to mind, (or has everyone forgotten that, too, i wonder?) which could be better spent elsewhere on essential public services or used to bring down council tax which residents would appreciate far more. but the evidence shows that the liberals care little for how residents are affected.

the only way to ensure that residents are listened to is to kick out the old lib dem faces who we see defending these disgraceful decisions and have a fresh start with an alternative makeup to the council.

the chance is next year, as a borough let's take that chance. i know who my vote's with.

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jackson80 says...
3:32pm Sun 20 Jan 13

Conservative Councillor Tony Shields wants to build a children's playground outside the South Sutton car park on Brighton road.... That's sure way to attract upstanding parents to the area! This report is clearly a piece of Conservative propaganda... Don't be fooled, Tony will not ride in a save the day!

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Sutton53 says...
5:06pm Sun 20 Jan 13

jackson80 wrote:
Conservative Councillor Tony Shields wants to build a children's playground outside the South Sutton car park on Brighton road.... That's sure way to attract upstanding parents to the area! This report is clearly a piece of Conservative propaganda... Don't be fooled, Tony will not ride in a save the day!
The amount of liberal democratic propaganda we have had to stomach far outweighs any constructive ideas that Tony Shields puts forward. As for saying 'Don't be fooled', many people have been by the 'lib dems' for far too long. Quite a few of their 'projects' have been a total waste of time and money though they will beg to differ no doubt.

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jackson80 says...
7:11pm Wed 30 Jan 13

Can I ask why this article has now been online for 15 days? Is news that slow in the Sutton Guardian office? Or is this the longest piece of conservative propaganda record!

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Wait right there says...
10:15pm Tue 12 Feb 13

jackson80 wrote:
Can I ask why this article has now been online for 15 days? Is news that slow in the Sutton Guardian office? Or is this the longest piece of conservative propaganda record!
It's still here... Just to add balance, a reminder from the story
Coun Jill Whitehead said: "Sutton already has 50 hours of free parking, which is the most generous in the entirety of London"

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