Car owners falling victim to parking free’ leases and rents

Dear Ed,

PARKING is a vexed subject in the East End of London, with many car owners having been victims of the draconian 'tow away' policies which are both massively inconveniencing and hugely expensive.

But there are also others who are victims of the 'car free' restrictions applying to many new developments in Tower Hamlets.

The policy of refusing parking permits to car owners in these developments may have been motivated by a desire to cut down on car use.

But the policy has been completely misconceived. It has discriminated against those with larger families who depend on cars for cheap and safe transport and on those dependent on cars for their jobs, like cabbies and minicab drivers.

Worse than this, I have had many constituents in my surgery complaining they were not informed when signing property tenancies or leases that these were 'parking free.'

Tower Hamlets council claims it is legally obliged to refuse permits and the tenant or leaseholder should sue the housing association or their solicitor or both, something most do not have the resources to do and which anyway will not get them the parking permits they need.

The council and the Government are seeing a little sense and have abandoned this pernicious policy for new developments, or so I am given to understand.

But this leaves many stuck in the existing 'car free' developments. So I am referring these 'parking free' developments to the Equalities & Human Rights Commission, as I believe the effect of these provisions are discriminatory.

I have written to the Town Hall and the Government urging a change of law so that these restrictions on car ownership are lifted.

We do need tough policies to save the environment-but this is not the way to do it.

George Galloway (Respect)

Bethnal Green & Bow MP

Constituency Office, Club Row, Bethnal Green