Councillor claims Sunday parking plans is 'tax on religion' (From Sutton Guardian)

Council backs plans to extend CPZ Sutton and considering Sunday enforcement

12:00am Friday 22nd March 2013 in News By James Pepper

A councillor has criticised plans to introduce charging for Sunday parking, calling it a "tax on religion".

Conservative councillor for Sutton South, Tony Shields, has attacked the council's new parking plans claiming they will hit the borough's most vulnerable the hardest after they were agreed at a meeting last month.

The new parking policy will look at creating more of the controversial controlled parking zones (CPZs), as well as enforcing CPZ rules on a Sunday for the first time and increasing the cost of the scheme.

CPZs are designed to reduce on-street parking in busy areas by charging shoppers and also residents a fee to park within them.

Councillor Shields, said: "Anyone wanting to go to a place of worship on a Sunday within a CPZ will have to pay to park their cars. On top at that they want to charge each household more to own a car."

Councillor Jill Whitehead, chairwoman of the environment and neighbourhood committee said: "Evidence shows Sundays have become much like other days of the week when it comes to traffic and parking intensity, so we are exploring ways to manage this increase. "

Our Controlled Parking Zones are in place to protect our residents from the effects of excessive parking by shoppers, commuters and others."