THE deluge of parking problems brought to MP Jim Fitzpatrick has led him to declare “it’s time to reclaim parking.” The situation is completely out of hand’ with wheel-clamps and over-zealous double yellow line’ controls which are swamping his office with grievances

By Mike Brooke

THE deluge of parking problems brought to East London MP Jim Fitzpatrick has led him to declare “it’s time to reclaim parking.”

The situation is getting completely out of hand’ with wheel-clamps and over-zealous double yellow line’ controls which are swamping his office with grievances from constituents, he revealed today (Wednesday).

Fitzpatrick is having to plough through a mountain of cases from the last three years from all over the E1, E3, E14 and E16 areas in his Poplar & Canning Town constituency.

CLAMPING

These include permits being revoked, clamping, towing away, private clamping firms running amok, car-free zones, car-free agreements in new developments, parking spaces occupied by non-residents, penalty tickets slapped on short-stop delivery vans and no parking for visiting friends and family.

“Those in charge of parking at the council or in housing associations must be as inundated as I am with these cases,” he said.

“People ask for my intervention on parking problems in such large numbers. It’s a situation that can’t be ignored.”

PETITIONS

Fitzpatrick has received petitions from whole streets and blocks of flats.

The Labour MP’s campaign to retake’ parking puts him at loggerheads with the Labour-run Tower Hamlets council, whose ruling group has been under scrutiny by the London Regional party HQ which has now taken over the selection of candidates for next year’s local elections.

“Clearly the council and social landlords have to balance parking requirements with environment and congestion concerns,” he adds. “We’ve got to deal with this problem unless we’re going to say you can’t be a car-owner in this borough’.”

The demand for parking facilities outweighing availability, Fitzpatrick has found. He has launched a questionnaire to get feedback on East London’s parking crisis.