A consultation on the new parking scheme is due to launch in this autumn, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Concerns have been raised over Haringey Council’s proposed ending of daily visitor permits over fears some residents could end up paying double.

Last month the council announced that hourly visitor permits would replace daily visitor permits, which were £5 per day, as part of its new borough-wide parking strategy.

In the council’s report on its new parking strategy it claimed that the daily visitor permit system was being abused. It said some people were selling the permits for a profit to commuters who came into the borough to park “all day” and use residential streets as a “car park”.

The report referred to this issue as part of the “circumstantial evidence” that brought about its policy change.

A consultation on the new parking scheme is due to launch in this autumn.

However, Haringey resident Caitlin O’Connor has argued it would not be commuters and private sellers affected, but residents like her.

Under the rule, drivers with resident permits for their own vehicle will have to get the new hourly permit for visitors, and the same goes for residents who don’t own a vehicle.

The hourly rates are £1.20 per hour.

Caitlin said: “Say you have contractors coming to work on your house and they work over a week or months, then you could be spending £11 to £17 per day in having people be able to come and park.

“Visitors themselves aren’t impacted, it’s residents being able to have visitors to their home, such as family to come and visit, medical staff, those are the people going to be affected by the change.”

Caitlin also takes issue with the council’s circumstantial evidence, highlighting that figures showing the amount of people abusing the previous system were not publicly available.

She emphasised this made understanding the scale of the council’s issue difficult, as well as accepting the reasons behind the new policy.

In response, Seema Chandwani, cabinet member for resident services and tackling inequality, acknowledged Caitlin raised an “interesting point”. She said: “We are a borough that is committed to understanding our residents needs and wants through healthy engagement.

“Parking spaces in London boroughs with high density like Haringey are in short supply.

“Some boroughs do not have daily visitor permits, whilst others have a maximum cap on how many a household can have.

“We want to hear from residents in Haringey through our consultation so they can have their say on our proposed changes before a decision is made.

“It will enable us to understand the reasons why daily visitor permits are needed and whether this proposal will benefit our borough or not.

“Caitlin raises an interesting point and one we hope she will make as part of the consultation when it opens in the autumn.”

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