Wembley traders claim Brent Council have done a U-turn on parking charges review

Town hall says restrictions ease congestion

Sixteen businesses in Wembley say Brent Council is going back on its word by not carrying out a review of parking restrictions outside their shops.

Pay-and-display machines were introduced along Grand Parade in 2009 and drivers have to pay 60p for 20 minutes, �1.50 for 40 minutes, �2.40 for an hour and �6 for two hours.

But traders say a promised review of the meters after six months has not happened.

A letter to Brent Town Hall, signed by the 16 businesses, says: “When the parking meters were imposed on Grand Parade, we were promised a review after six months. Unfortunately this has never taken place.

“To make matters worse, for the past two months a CCTV car has been parked opposite Grand Parade for two hours each evening and at various times during the day.

“This has caused a fall in the number of people coming to our shops. Customers are even scared to park on the meters due to the perceived Big Brother attitude of Brent Council’s parking attendants.”

In the past month two people have been involved in road accidents at the junction of Bridge Road, Forty Avenue and Forty Lane.

Traders believe CCTV cars should be monitoring people driving through red lights rather than trying to catch shoppers.

The letter adds: “Brent Council is more interested in collecting parking fines than worrying about road safety.”

But the council believes the parking restrictions have improved congestion in the area and it does not plan to remove the machines.

A spokesman said: “The congestion was causing delays to drivers, particularly buses and was causing road safety problems.

“The council undertakes enforcement of bus lanes, yellow boxes and parking restrictions at locations throughout Brent in order to ensure road safety is maintained and traffic is kept moving.

“It would be wholly wrong to suggest that our approach is income-driven.”