Postcode lottery on parking angers residents (From Sutton Guardian)

Sutton town centre postcode lottery on parking angers residents

5:40pm Wednesday 17th October 2012 in News By James Pepper

A postcode lottery is dictating the price residents are offered to park in housing estates.

In May it emerged friends and family of residents in the Collingwood Estate can park within its car park for £1 a year thanks to a £24 subsidy from the Sutton Housing Partnership.

Figures showed 93 residents had taken the SHP up on the offer, as had 556 friends and family. But the deal being offered to the Collingwood Estate is different to that offered elsewhere.

Residents of two other estates in the borough, Sutton Court and Benhill, have been asked if they would like a parking scheme after resident associations there complained about parking problems.

Following complaints that commuters and shoppers were leaving cars in their car park, residents were asked if they would like a scheme which would stop the problem, at a cost of £15 to £25 per permit.

Some residents of both estates refused the scheme on the grounds it was too expensive.

Sutton South Councillor Tony Shields, said: "It is clearly unfair that residents blighted by commuter parking at the north of the high street are charged just a pound yet residents in the south would be asked to pay 15 to 25 times that amount. I know that if people on Sutton Court were offered a £1 a year parking scheme they would bite the council's hand off."

Figures from a recent survey on Sutton Court found 19 respondents said they would like a parking scheme and they would pay, four said yes to a parking scheme but did not want to pay, and 33 said no to a parking scheme.

A spokesperson for SHP said: "Following consultation at Sutton Court, residents have told us they are not in favour of a parking permit scheme on their estate.

"We have been working closely with the Residents’ Association and at their request we will be talking to residents again about how they would like to see parking managed at Sutton Court.

"Residents living at Collingwood have their own scheme, which has operated for many years. They are issued with parking permits for a fee which contributes towards the council’s administration charges."