Croydon North, South, West, East Inner, East Outer CPZ's - Hours Increase to 8am-Midnight Every Day

Waiting for an internal review by Croydon Borough Council of their handling of this request.

Dear Croydon Borough Council,

Croydon Council is proposing to increase the hours that controlled parking applies to 8am-Midnight every day from the present Mon-Sat 9am-5pm in all its Controlled Parking Zones around the Croydon town centre, ie in each of the North, South, West, East Inner, and East Outer CPZ's.

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Under Parking Consultations, the council says:

http://www.croydon.gov.uk/transportandst...

PROPOSED EXTENSION OF THE HOURS OF OPERATION FOR THE CROYDON CONTROLLED PARKING ZONE AND OFF STREET CAR PARKS MANAGED BY CROYDON COUNCIL.

The Council is proposing to extend the hours the Croydon Controlled Parking Zone operates so that the sub-zones surrounding the Central Zone would mirror its operating hours of 8am to midnight, Monday to Sunday inclusive.
These sub-zones are the North, South, West, East Inner and East Outer areas.

The operational hours would apply to both parking bays and single yellow lines within each zone. On strategic roads the commencement of the parking controls would remain at 7am and extend to midnight in line with the subzone.

Since the inception of the Zones in the early 1990’s, when the current hours of operation for the outer zones were Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm, there have been changes in shopping, entertainment and travel patterns in and around Croydon and the increase in traffic has had an effect on the demand for kerbside parking space and therefore needs to be managed more effectively.

The level of available space for residents and businesses in the area has been reduced due to public shopping habits changing which have also seen extra traffic travelling into the town centre on Sundays and in the evenings.

The Council also proposes to increase the hours of operation for all off street car parks managed by Croydon Council so that they would operate seven days a week, twenty four hours a day. This is to reflect the demand for car parking spaces and to provide a level of consistency across the borough making the charging patterns for Croydon easier to understand to visitors.

All comments and representations need to be received by 4 February 2011 and any further information can be obtained by telephoning the Community Services Department on 020 – 8726 7100.

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In its public notice, the council says:

8-12-10 - http://www.croydon.gov.uk/transportandst...

6. The proposed Orders are intended to reduce congestion within the Croydon Controlled Parking Sub-Zones promoting a fairer use of parking space for residents and residents visitors.

The level of traffic has increased significantly since the early 1990’s when the current hours of operation for the outer central zones, Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm, were implemented. This increase in traffic has had an effect on the demand for kerbside parking space and needs to be managed more effectively.

The changes in the public's shopping habits have also seen more traffic travelling into the town centre on Sundays and in the evenings which is also reducing the level of available space for residents and businesses in the area. It is proposed to increase the hours of operation for the outer zones to mirror that of the Croydon Central Zone, Monday to Sunday 8am to midnight.

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In its report to TMCC, the council says:

23-11-10 - http://www.croydon.gov.uk/democracy/dand...

3.25 The level of traffic has increased significantly since the early 1990’s when the current hours of operation for the outer central zones, Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm, were implemented. This increase in traffic has had an effect on the demand for kerbside parking space and as such needs to be managed more effectively.

The changes in the publics shopping habits have also seen more traffic travelling into the town centre on Sundays and in the evenings which is also reducing the level of available space for residents and businesses in the area.

As such it is proposed to increase the hours of operation for the outer zones to mirror that of the Croydon Central Zone, Monday to Sunday 8am to midnight.

3.26 This increase in operational hours will be self financing and therefore not affect the price of permits. Permit holders will see an increase in patrols made by Civil Enforcement Officers which in turn will increased road safety, traffic flow and crime reduction.

3.27 The changes to the hours of operation will also add a level of consistency across central Croydon making the parking restrictions easier to understand for members of the public. In exceptional cases there may be restrictions which operate outside of the CPZ hours and these will be clearly signed to inform motorists of differing restrictions. These cases are a small minority but necessary to ensure clear traffic movement.

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There are differences between the case put forward in these 3 announcements.

Please explain these, as it appears that the council is attempting to massage public opinion, presenting a different subtly case to its councillors.

Q1 - Please quantify with appropriate traffic data the assertion that "The level of traffic has increased significantly since the early 1990’s", as DfT traffic data for Croydon shows little change in traffic volume over a 10 year period since the mid 1990's.

In particular, produce the traffic data that quantifies the increase in traffic being such as to warrant extending the hours of operation of these CPZ's, taking each of the 5 CPZ's separately.

Bear in mind here that the council decided in 2002 not to make this change following massive objections from local people, so one would expect to see a clear increase in traffic volume in each of these CPZ's over the past 8 years.

Q2 - Please quantify with appropriate traffic data what has been the "effect on the demand for kerbside parking space", and how this shows a need to extend the hours of control.

Q3 - Please quantify with appropriate data the number of parking spaces that would be removed by banning parking on single yellow lines in each of the 5 zones separately, and the number of parking bays which the increases in controlled hours would free up.

Q4 - Please quantify with appropriate traffic data how the "level of available space for residents and businesses in the area" has changed since 2002, and how increasing the hours of control would affect this.

In particular, is it suggested that forcing people to pay for parking will deter visitors to the area sufficiently to provide more space for those who have paid for permits, even after all parking on single yellow lines is banned?

Q5 - Please quantify with appropriate data the extent to which this extension of controlled hours is predicted to "reduce congestion within" each of the 5 zones, and how it will promote "a fairer use of parking space for residents and residents visitors".

Q6 - Please advise of the number of contacts the council has received since 2002 requesting an extension of controlled hours.

List each of these in an XLS spreadsheet with date, method of contact, and location, eg postcode, and summary of reason

Q7 - Please provide a note of each meeting or contact since 2002 between officers in Parking Services and councillors which include mention of the extension of CPZ hours.

This to include date, who initiated contact, other parties involved, method of contact, some note of substance of contact.

Q8 - How will "increase in patrols made by Civil Enforcement Officers... increase road safety" - given the way the council's parking police on mopeds are daily observed to shoot around with little regard for traffic rules or road safety ?

Q9 - What is the predicted effect on council revenue from this proposed increase in controlled hours?

In view of the reasons given for proposing this increase in controlled hours, the council must be presumed to have performed the above analysis, and so it would be a simple matter to produce the answers to this FOI

Yours faithfully,

James Muldoon

Morris, Valerie, Croydon Borough Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Muldoon

Thank you for your email/letter dated the 24 January 2011 in which you
have requested among other matters information regarding Croydon Council's
proposal to increase the hours that controlled parking applies to 8 am -
Midnight every day and the present Monday-Saturday 9 am to 5 pm in all its
controlled parking zones around the Croydon town centre.

We are considering your request under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, and hope to respond within the statutory 20 working
days.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, either
myself or a colleague will let you know the likely charges before
proceeding.

If you have any queries about this email, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely

Valerie Morris

Contract Monitoring Officer

Chief Executive's Office

Democratic & Legal Services Division

5th Floor South Side

Taberner House

Park Lane Croydon

CR9 3JS

Tel: 0208 686 4433 ext. 62676

Fax: 0208 760 5679

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Kwame Opoku left an annotation ()

This information will be most helpful to the campaign against Croydon Council's attempt to railroad through new harsh parking controls.

Sign the Petition here:

https://secure.croydon.gov.uk/petition/f...

Go to this website for more information:

http://croydoncouncil.com/

Patel, Tracey, Croydon Borough Council

Dear Mr Muldoon,

Request for Information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Ref – F/11/104

Thank you for your email which was received by the Council on 24 January
2011 regarding the proposed changes to Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs). We
have now considered your request under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

You asked:

Q1 - Please quantify with appropriate traffic data the assertion

that "The level of traffic has increased significantly since the

early 1990’s", as DfT traffic data for Croydon shows little change

in traffic volume over a 10 year period since the mid 1990's.

In particular, produce the traffic data that quantifies the

increase in traffic being such as to warrant extending the hours of

operation of these CPZ's, taking each of the 5 CPZ's separately.

Bear in mind here that the council decided in 2002 not to make this

change following massive objections from local people, so one would

expect to see a clear increase in traffic volume in each of these

CPZ's over the past 8 years.

Q2 - Please quantify with appropriate traffic data what has been

the "effect on the demand for kerbside parking space", and how this

shows a need to extend the hours of control.

Q3 - Please quantify with appropriate data the number of parking

spaces that would be removed by banning parking on single yellow

lines in each of the 5 zones separately, and the number of parking

bays which the increases in controlled hours would free up.

Q4 - Please quantify with appropriate traffic data how the "level

of available space for residents and businesses in the area" has

changed since 2002, and how increasing the hours of control would

affect this.

In particular, is it suggested that forcing people to pay for

parking will deter visitors to the area sufficiently to provide

more space for those who have paid for permits, even after all

parking on single yellow lines is banned?

Q5 - Please quantify with appropriate data the extent to which this

extension of controlled hours is predicted to "reduce congestion

within" each of the 5 zones, and how it will promote "a fairer use

of parking space for residents and residents visitors".

Q6 - Please advise of the number of contacts the council has

received since 2002 requesting an extension of controlled hours.

List each of these in an XLS spreadsheet with date, method of

contact, and location, eg postcode, and summary of reason

Q7 - Please provide a note of each meeting or contact since 2002

between officers in Parking Services and councillors which include

mention of the extension of CPZ hours.

This to include date, who initiated contact, other parties

involved, method of contact, some note of substance of contact.

Q8 - How will "increase in patrols made by Civil Enforcement

Officers... increase road safety" - given the way the council's

parking police on mopeds are daily observed to shoot around with

little regard for traffic rules or road safety ?

Q9 - What is the predicted effect on council revenue from this

proposed increase in controlled hours?

To answer the specific questions would take us in excess of 18 hours to
check if we hold it, retrieve and identify this information in the way you
have requested.

The Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004
specifies an “appropriate limit” for the amount of time the Council
needs to spend undertaking that review. If the Council estimates it will
take more than that, then under s.12 of the FOIA, it is not obliged to
carry comply with that request. The appropriate limit currently specified
by the Regulations for local authorities is £450. This represents the
estimated cost of one person spending 2½ working days in locating,
retrieving and extracting the information from where it is stored. We
estimate that the cumulative time it would take officers to carry out this
undertaking would exceed the appropriate limit. Therefore, we are unable
to disclose the information you are seeking and will not be processing
your request further.

However, please see the link to our website below for the report that went
to our Traffic Management Cabinet Committee on 9 February 2011 which may
be helpful.

[1]http://www.croydon.gov.uk/democracy/dand...

If you are dissatisfied with the way the department has handled your
request under the Freedom of Information Act you may ask for an internal
review. Your request for internal review should be submitted to us within
40 working days of receipt by you of this response. Any such request
received after this time will only be considered at the discretion of the
Council.

You can do this by outlining the details of your complaint and either

e-mailing us at [2][Croydon Borough Council request email]

faxing us on 0208 760 5679

writing to FOI Complaints, London Borough of Croydon, Democratic and
Legal Services, Croydon, CR9 3JS

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely,

Tracey Patel

Communication & Quality Assurance Coordinator

Community Services Department

Parking Services

PO Box 1462

Croydon CR9 1WX

Tel - Tel: 020 8726 6000 (Ext. 60789)

Fax - 020 8667 1066

THINK Customer

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References

Visible links
1. http://www.croydon.gov.uk/democracy/dand...
2. mailto:[Croydon Borough Council request email]
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Dear Patel, Tracey,

Your reply is not satisfactory, as you have not even stated whether you have any of the information.

However, it is clear that you must have some of it.

Please provide details of your calculation of the time you consider it would take, as I find it not credible that a reply within the 18 hour limit could not be provided.

Certainly it cannot reasonably take more than 18 hours to say which parts you do have and which you do not, and there is a clear inference that you are exaggerating the time involved to avoid releasing information which might embarrass the council.

Under the §16 duty to assist, please clarify which parts of my FOI Request would be simple to provide, and which parts you believe would cause difficulty.

Yours sincerely,

James Muldoon

Dear Croydon Borough Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Croydon Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Croydon North, South, West, East Inner, East Outer CPZ's - Hours Increase to 8am-Midnight Every Day'.

24-1-11 FOI made
25-1-11 FOI acknowledged
17-2-11 FOI refsued on cost grounds, with no help offered as to how to refine FOI request so as to fall within limit.
17-2-11 Follow up sent seeking clarification of refusal, and asking for assistance.
2 weeks later no further response.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/cr...

Yours faithfully,

James Muldoon

Paul Williams left an annotation ()

You are entitled to ask the Information Commissioner to intervene. Go here for more info: http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints//freedo...

Dear Patel, Tracey,

The council has failed to respond further since I submitted my Internal Review Request on 3-3-11.

Please provide the full response within 7 days, as otherwise a complaint to the ICO will become necessary.

Yours sincerely,

James Muldoon

James Muldoon left an annotation ()

No further response from LBC so complaint made to ICO on 25-4-11.