• IN just two weeks’ time Camden Council will be deciding whether to go ahead with its plans to abolish scratch cards for visitor parking.

Eighteen local community groups across Camden have joined West Hampstead Amenity and Transport Group’s campaign (WHAT) urging the council to retain scratch cards alongside the digital permit system. We believe this is essential if Camden’s policies are to support all sections of our community.

In a joint statement we are sending to councillors we raise concerns that removing scratch cards would have an adverse, discriminatory impact on older, vulnerable and less affluent residents, resulting in increased levels of loneliness, anxiety and stress, to the considerable detriment of wellbeing and independence.

Feedback from countless members without access to or ability to use digital devices, or negotiate complex phone parking options on the spot, confirms how strongly this impact and resulting anxiety would be felt if scratch cards were removed.

Our campaign is consistent with the council’s stated wish in We Make Camden to “make sure that no one in Camden is socially isolated and without the means to connect to their community” and to “ensure that accessibility and inclusion are at the heart of how we design and deliver services”.

With Census data from 2021 showing that Camden has more than 11,000 residents aged 75 and over, more than 30,000 living with a disability or long-term condition that limited their day to day activities, many people living alone, and around one in seven of the population defined as income deprived, we believe that removing the scratch card option or restricting it to a very small number of residents will not allow Camden to meet these aims.

Ofcom’s digital exclusion report (2022) describes access, ability and affordability as measures of digital exclusion and states that 60 per cent of those aged 70+, living alone, with an impacting or limiting condition, did not use the internet or have access to it at home.

We appreciate the wish to reduce pollution, of course, but residents have no control over which type of vehicle is used by their visitors.

Those who live in Camden already have incentives to switch to less polluting vehicles, and visitors who live out of the borough are hardly likely to switch their vehicles because it costs more for the person they are visiting.

We call on Camden Council to retain scratch cards alongside online access for visitors’ parking permits. Put simply, scratch cards are best placed to deal with the many challenging situations of urban life that demand practical and flexible approaches.

SUSAN RICHARDS
WHAT Committee, NW6