• DURING a walkabout with local residents in Primrose Hill, organised by the leader of the opposition Cllr Claire Louise Leyland, without informing local ward councillors in advance, officers of the council enforcement team shared with residents plans to provide new parking bays for coaches in Prince Albert Road.

Both sides of that road have been used regularly by coaches to park and wait after they have dropped off passengers from across Europe at central London tourist spots.

The coach industry is well aware that powers at disposal of local authorities are limited and the cost of a PCN penalty charge notice at the reduced rate of £65, is still less than the equivalent coach parking day fees in an authorised facility.

As ward councillors we are aware of the situation and share the residents’ concerns about using the road as a parking facility, about coaches idling close to a much-loved children’s playground, and about coaches using the street gutters to empty their toilets.

We don’t think that the right way to deal with this issue, which causes lots of concerns in residents, is to allow on-street parking, especially in an area where the zoo car park provides plenty of space for off-street parking.

We requested officers and the newly-appointed cabinet member for improving Camden’s environment, Cllr Adam Harrison, to implement a stricter enforcement policy instead.

As a result a new enhanced parking enforcement has started to take place – last week – with five visits a day from Monday to Friday at random times throughout the day so that drivers do not get comfortable with the enforcement happening to scheduled times.

In the first week there have been two PCNs issued and a number of occasions when officers have forced the coaches to move from the location.

The aim is that the enhanced level of enforcement will prove disruptive enough to discourage these coaches from parking at the location.

Enforcement alone will not solve the problem, because we need also to change the drivers’ behaviour and discourage them not only from parking on this location but also make sure they do not find another location in the proximity and use it as an alternative. They should go to a designated coach parking facility instead.

We really hope that this new enhanced enforcement system – in addition to the newly introduced fixed-penalty charge for idling – will become a good deterrent for the coaches, as those idling drivers are a danger for the air we breathe. And a danger for the environment we (and our kids) live in.

CLLR PATRICIA CALLAGHAN
CLLR RICHARD COTTON
CLLR LAZZARO PIETRAGNOLI
Labour, Camden Town with Primrose Hill ward