Camden approves changes for Healthy Streets, Healthy Travel: Cleaner, Fairer Parking
Camden Council’s Cabinet has given its approval to a range of changes to on-street motor vehicle parking in Camden.
We are facing a Climate Emergency and an air quality crisis. So we know we need to seize every opportunity we can to take action. For these reasons, last autumn we undertook an extensive review of the type of parking permits we offer and went to public consultation on proposals to ensure we encourage cleaner and more carbon-efficient vehicles.
Alongside this we want to improve access for elderly and disabled residents, support low-income residents and small businesses, use kerbside space in Camden in new, greener ways and to reduce vehicle use and ownership across the borough.
I would like to thank everyone who took the opportunity to complete the consultation.
Camden already provides a range of support for residents to assist them with the cost of living. But as part of this package of measures, the council will be further extending its assistance to older and disabled residents (through the discounted visitor permit scheme), along with existing offers which include the comprehensive blue badge scheme.
The council also already provides a range of existing support for local businesses, including business rate discounts and exemptions for small businesses and charities and tax relief and allowances for businesses, employers and the self-employed.
The agreed changes to parking in Camden include:
- A new carbon emissions-based form of charging for a range of parking products.
- A new “Air Quality Surcharge” which covers older petrol and diesel vehicles.
- Merging two, currently separate, Paid for Parking Tariff areas, in the north of the borough, into one.
- Reducing the “maximum” stay time in a number of Paid for Parking bays.
- Only allowing one vehicle on each resident/business parking permit.
- Charging for “solo motorcycle parking” bays in the borough, which are currently free, and introducing new motorcycle parking products, alongside a discounted charge for electric motorcycles on all parking products.
- Removing visitor parking permit scratch cards for most customers, introducing an Integrated Voice Recognition telephone service for many of these customers, and keeping the scratch cards for those who are digitally excluded.
- No longer providing, for new applicants, dedicated parking bays for doctors permits across the borough and business permits south of Euston Road.
- Increase in the fees and charges for many reviewed parking products, as a result of the above changes, and bringing these changes in over two years rather than the one year initially proposed.
The changes to parking charges, if approved, will be introduced from 17 June 2024.
Further information
You can view the relevant papers online here.