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FEATURE ELECTION SPECIAL

Which

Viewpoint: Conservative

Power to the people – freedom for local authorities to decide their parking strategy

Theresa Villiers is the Conservative shadow secretary of state for transport and her focus is upon improving the transport system as a whole, making it high-quality, greener and better value for money. The party is also determined to put parking provision at the heart of local strategic planning, as opposed to it being a part of the national strategy.

In the Conservative Green Paper, entitled Open Source Planning, the following policy is outlined: ‘We will amend this planning guidance to abolish the rules that force up car parking charges. We will scrap all Whitehall parking standards, as they should be a matter for local discretion depending on the nature of the neighbourhood. ‘These changes will encourage the greater provision of off-street parking spaces, which will take pressure off clogged-up streets.’ In her speech at the party conference, Villiers said: ‘If we are going to give people real power over the things that matter, we have got to address the sense of powerlessness and frustration they feel in the face of daily disruption to the travel network. ‘We need decentralisation. So when local authorities want to innovate and try out new ways to make traffic flow, they’ll get encouragement from Whitehall – not the stonewalling and inflexibility for which Labour’s Department of Transport is notorious.’ The Conservative policy addresses environmental issues, stating that all parking policies should consider the full environmental and social impact, but it also stresses that parking policy should not set targets with the specific aim of reducing car ownership. And, in a clear message to private parking operators who flout the

AOS Code of Practice, Villiers said: ‘There is another group who must be made accountable, and that’s the cowboy clampers to which so many of us have fallen victim at one time or another. At the moment they can act with impunity. A Conservative government would put the cowboy clampers out of business.’

22 APRIL 2010

Viewpoint: Labour

In the driving seat with Labour – government investment is key to greener and more efficient

‘Cowboy clampers’ is a phrase bound to bring a steely glint to Sadiq Khan’s eye as he outlines both the work done, and that which is still to be done, in his position as transport minister. Since taking up the reins

at the Department for Transport (DfT) in June 2009, the minister has been increasingly frustrated with the parking industry’s inability to deal with the ‘cowboy clampers’. ‘I am fed up with cowboy clampers and sick of

receiving complaints about them.’ In a move to rid the industry of these

companies, Khan has been working closely with the British Parking Association (BPA) and the DVLA to make life difficult for parking operators who bend the rules or who take inappropriate action against minor-offenders or innocent motorists. Another key strategy outlined by the minister

is the proposed introduction of an independent appeals service. Again, the DfT is working with the BPA on creating a transparent, fair system allowing the motoring public to appeal unfair

www.britishparking.co.uk

way now?

AS THE COUNTRY GOES TO THE POLLS TO ELECT A NEW GOVERNMENT, SARAH JUGGINS ASKS THE THREE MAIN PARTIES WHAT THE FUTURE MAY HOLD FOR THE PARKING INDUSTRY Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52
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