Camden Parking Services are proposing a rationalisation of pay & display machines and will be carrying out a trial period from 9th September through to 4th October 2013.
The reasons for doing so is that from December 2011 the council have used a cashless system which has progressively been increasing over the last few years. The costs of maintaining the machines is greater than having a cashless system. However, we are not looking to remove all the pay & display machines but will rationalise their placement across the borough. This project has the potential to save the council £160,000 per year.
Accordingly, the main purpose of the trial is to collate data for an Equalities Impact Assessment but also to determine the impact of machine removal for all users inclusive of residents and businesses in the borough.
Camden has over 800 Pay and Display machines in the borough. This is significantly more than neighbouring boroughs.
Under the council’s Camden Plan thay want to create a more sustainable environment and one that is attractive and clear of street clutter. The machines are costly to maintain and are prone to vandalism and theft. With the introduction of cashless parking in 2011 motorists who need to pay for parking can use their mobile phone or download an app.
With this in mind, Camden believe they can reduce the number of machines on street without impacting on visitors to the area.
Camden is undertaking a trial removal, by disabling selected machines, so that any accessibility issues can be identified prior to developing a plan for permanently removing a selection of machines in the borough. The findings from this trial will be used to inform future planning.
Initially the trial is taking place into following locations:
- Seven Dials – there are 7 machines in the area of which 3 will be disabled
- Hampstead High Street – there are 14 machines within close proximity of which 9 will be disabled
- West Heath Road – there are 5 machines of which 4 will be disabled
- Kentish Town Road area – there are 11 machines in the area of which 6 will be disabled
- South Grove – there are 3 machines of which 2 will be disabled
Grangeway and Kingsgate Road, Kilburn – there are 9 machines in the area of which 5 will be disabled.