Bumper windfall for council from Queen's Crescent market traffic camera
Just under 400 fines handed out in past 12 months
Friday, 17th August 2018 — By Dan Carrier
Jill Fraser says gates should be kept closed until 6pm
THE Town Hall has earned a bumper cash windfall from a traffic camera catching out motorists who mistakenly drive down a market road, the New Journal has learned.
A camera monitoring Queen’s Crescent has earned the Town Hall nearly £26,000 from motorists over the past 12 months.
The camera automatically snaps images of any car using the street on Thursdays and Saturdays, when the street market is open from 7am until 6pm.
There are gates to stop cars coming in during market hours but campaigners say council workers are opening them when they knock off at around 4pm.
Former Haverstock ward Lib Dem councillor Jill Fraser, who manages the Blue Sea fish and chip shop on the crescent, said: “It’s a constant stream. Shoppers and traders do not understand why the gates aren’t just kept closed until the street reopens.”
She said signs by the barriers warning motorists of restrictions “are very unclear”, adding: “This inevitably leads to confusion – and an absolute windfall for the council.”
The fines are a mini-mum of £65 a time and the New Journal has learned that the Town Hall has issued just under 400 in the past 12 months.
The council took back control of the market – one of London’s oldest – four years ago from the management of the Queen’s Crescent Community Association. The QCCA could not afford the new rubbish collection charge.
Attempts to relaunch the market have failed and meetings about bringing it back to its heyday have not yet led to new customers or more traders wanting stalls.
Former chairman of the QCCA Mick Farrant, said: “This is another sign of how the market is mismanaged by the council. Stalls have gone down by 80 per cent since they took over. When we ran it, our staff stayed until the market closed to make sure the gates were locked until it was safe to open them again and we made sure traders could move their vans safely through the street by walking ahead as banks-men.”
Reclaim Queen’s Crescent member Val Stevenson added: “It is a health and safety issue. We want to encourage the market – we want it to feel like a safe space and we want the gates kept closed until the market shuts.”
A Town Hall spokesman said: “The gates provide a further physical barrier to motorists during these times, but during the day- to-day running of the market these may not always be closed for the full duration of the enforcement period and this should not be taken as an indication that the controls are not currently being enforced.”
Councillor Nadia Shah, cabinet member for safer communities, said: “We are committed to Queen’s Crescent Market and continue to work hard to maintain and develop this important community asset.”
