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Islington Tribune - by JAMIE WELHAM
Published: 7 September 2007

Cllr Lucy Watt

‘Cash cow’ parking fines claim rejected

THE Town Hall has hit back at claims that parking tickets are being issued to raise revenue, following a damning report this week.
Executive director of the RAC, Edmund King, accused Islington Council of using parking fines as a cash cow,.
Councillor Lucy Watt, Lib Dem executive member for environment, said: “It disappoints me that people think they are being persecuted. They seem to think money from parking fines gets washed down some black hole and this simply isn’t true. It’s a public service and all the money goes back into that service.”
Islington traffic wardens issued more than 260,000 parking fines in 2006-2007 – a 25 per cent increase on the previous year, a report by pressure group London Councils has revealed.
It also showed that an average of 915 fines a day were imposed by NCP traffic wardens working for the council.
Mr King attacked ticket-happy parking wardens. “It’s a postcode lottery,” he said. “In places like Islington the system is so overzealous people are scared to stop and shop. Such extreme regimes can kill off town and city centres.”
Cllr Watt stressed that Islington was the only borough in London where ticket quotas had been scrapped. She said: “We are working with a common sense policy, and wardens can now be fined for issuing too many tickets or issuing a ticket as a driver is returning to their car. It’s not about making money but about helping people get on with their everyday lives.”
The sharp rise in tickets was due to the creation of more controlled parking zones and the opening of Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.
Cllr Watt said: “Overall, we are issuing about 100 fewer tickets a day than in 2004-05.”

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