Parking Charges Double in LBHF

Our local council, the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, have recently almost doubled the cost of parking in our Borough.  Parking charges in the area have risen from around £2.80 an hour to around £5.00 per hour.  

This is a pretty steep increase.  Imagine a family taking their kids to the park; it would cost £15 just to park the family car for three hours.  

Is that affordable for many people? And is it proportionate to the actual cost of administering parking facilities?  

What this feels like is a stealth tax - and a pretty big one at that. 

Parking charges

Of course,  there are lower charges for green or low emissions vehicles, which pay £3 per hour (although weirdly, hybrids don't count).  But for most people, who drive a traditional petrol car, the cost of parking has gone up a lot.  If you have a diesel car, which until recently was heavily promoted by the Government as a low carbon alternative to petrol, you now pay a surcharge of £1 per hour. 

To find out more, read the story at MyLondon.  You can also see a thread of (generally negative) views at NextDoor.  One of the biggest complaints by locals is that no consultation was carried out by the Council. 

Official parking page

To see the official LBHF Parking page, follow this link.  According to the LBHF official statement, the increases "will support the council’s objectives within the Climate Emergency Action Plan and Air Quality Action Plan, helping to reduce CO2 emissions and improving air quality." 

And, they might add, raise a lot of extra money. 

The Shepherd's Bush Blog offers a personal view on life in Shepherd's Bush.  If you would like to contribute a story about our neighbourhood, email us at shepherdsbushblog@gmail.com