Wetherell Mayfairs Fitnes Properties

Westminster council was today in turmoil following the shock resignation of the leader responsible for its West End parking charges plan.

The unexpected departure of Colin Barrow comes after a sustained campaign against the "tax on nightlife" that left him isolated against senior politicians, London's biggest businesses and ordinary residents.

The capital's largest local authority faces weeks of uncertainty - at the start of a crucial year for London - as a power struggle starts. Pressure was growing on Mr Barrow's close ally Lee Rowley, the Cabinet member responsible for parking, to quit.

Insiders say the parking charge plan is almost certain to be abandoned for good as the leadership battle pits a "young turk" said to be opposed to the charges against the authority's finance chief.

One senior council figure told the Standard they were mystified and "in shock". He said: "We are leaderless while (Barrow) is a leader without power. It's a very strange thing to do." Political leaders said it was almost inconceivable that whoever was elected the new head of London's most powerful local authority could continue with the scheme.

The proposals would have seen motorists charged up to £4.80 an hour to leave their cars on the streets of the West End in the evenings and on Sunday afternoons. Local Conservative MP Mark Field said: "Given the furore, given the strength of the campaign by the Evening Standard, I would be very surprised if Colin's successor runs along with this."

There is no chance of a successor being chosen for at least six weeks until a group meeting on February 29.
Critics of the parking policy expressed delight at Mr Barrow's abrupt departure and said the charges should be immediately consigned to the political dustbin. Paul Dimoldenberg, leader of Westminster city council's Labour group, said the resignation was "a real victory for West End jobs, businesses and residents".

"For the past six months Westminster Conservatives have refused to listen to common sense and now Colin Barrow has paid the ultimate price for his poor judgment and failure to recognise the damage that his 'nightlife tax' parking charges would do to West End jobs and businesses." The charges were scheduled to come into force on January 9 but have been delayed until after the Olympics by a legal challenge.

The race for the succession began immediately with four leading candidates emerging. They are Cabinet members for street cleaning and City management Ed Argar, who is seen as the candidate most likely to scrap the charges; finance chief Philippa Roe; the Cabinet member for enterprise Brian Connell and Jonathan Glanz, who is responsible for housing.

One local Tory activist said: "We would favour Ed Argar, he is bright, businesslike and much more sensible than the others."

However, Glenys Roberts, the sole Tory councillor openly opposed to the charges, said she would support Ms Roe. She said: "Obviously the last person we need is Lee Rowley who should have resigned along with Colin."

Mr Barrow, 59, who has led Westminster council for four years, told stunned Cabinet colleagues of his decision on Friday evening. They were sworn to secrecy until a formal announcement was made on Saturday. He insisted the departure was for personal reasons unrelated to the furore over parking and wanted to "change gear". However, senior Tory sources he had been left with no option but to quit after realising he had become hopelessly isolated within Westminster's ruling Tory group. "He didn't have his ducks in a row and he had no supporters," a source said.

Allies of Boris Johnson, who has been hugely critical of the proposals, said Mr Barrow had been offered a way out but had spurned it.

One source said: "The Mayor felt like he had given Colin an escape route on parking months ago by offering to do a joint economic study into the economic impact of the policy and allowing Westminster to suspend the plans until that happened. But Colin was very stubborn. We didn't think any of this was in his best interest."

Today Mr Johnson said: "I was sorry to see Colin Barrow stand down. Despite recent controversies he has served the city well."

Lord Young, the Prime Minister's business adviser and a former Cabinet minister, said: "I hope very much that [Mr Barrow's resignation] means a change in policy and acceptance that Westminster works for the residents not the other way round."

Mr Barrow told the BBC's Sunday Politics London show he still believed the policy was right but admitted that the council had not taken sufficient account of the economic impact, estimated at £800 million a year.

By Jonathan Prynn, Peter Dominczak and Mira Bar-Hillel
The Evening Standard - Monday 16th January 2012
Click to see original article

Westminster council was today accused of "an appalling breach of faith" after it ordered the removal of more than 1,000 parking spaces in the West End.

Mayor Boris Johnson condemned the Tory authority's "deeply cynical" move, which came nine days after the High Court blocked the introduction of evening and Sunday parking charges.

The latest proposals, "sneaked out" before Christmas, will see single yellow lines converted to "no parking at any time" double yellows on January 9 - amounting to the loss of the equivalent of 1,191 free out-of-hours parking spaces.

Critics said it was effectively a "backdoor" way of forcing drivers out of the West End in defiance of the ruling by Mr Justice Collins on December 14. That decision resulted in council leader Colin Barrow suspending the £4.80-an-hour "tax on nightlife" until after the Olympics.

In his most outspoken attack yet, the Mayor told the Standard: "This is a deeply cynical move and an appalling breach of faith. Small businesses, churchgoers, actors, and thousands of decent Londoners rely on the West End for their livelihood and we all rely on them to maintain the economic vitality of our great city. I urge Westminster to pause and think about the consequences of their increasingly reckless decisions. And I've asked GLA economics, informed by TfL, to start an immediate assessment of the impact of this move."

Labour's mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone also condemned the action, saying: "Westminster council seems to have taken leave of its senses."

The Liberal Democrats' Brian Paddick said: "This is absolutely outrageous behaviour by Westminster council. They are quite clearly hell-bent on damaging the economy of the West End in order to raise money from motorists."
The new restrictions will affect hundreds of streets in Mayfair, Fitzrovia and parts of Marylebone, although Soho and Covent Garden are largely unscathed.

In total, about 16 per cent of the single yellow lines, which allow free parking in the evening and on Sundays, will be changed. The announcement, from Westminster's commissioner of transportation Martin Low, came on the afternoon of Friday December 23.

Patricia Michelson, owner of La Fromagerie cheese shop in Marylebone, said: "It's absolutely atrocious. To decide to do this on 23 December, just before everyone goes away for Christmas, is appalling.

"What annoys me is they say they want to listen, they want to review, but it's a complete lie. Within a few days of saying that, they bring in all these yellow line conversions. It's totally deceitful, sly and not in the interest of anyone."

Nicola Powrie, 38, a croupier at Les Ambassadeurs casino, Mayfair, said: "I drive from Chelmsford and rely on yellow lines to park. What the council is doing is disgusting. I don't think they want anyone to come into London."

Glenys Roberts, a West End councillor and the only Tory council member to come out fully against the plans, said: "There is a lot of local anger because the assumption was nothing was about to go through after the judge advised the council not to go ahead."

Paul Dimoldenberg, Labour's group leader on the council said: "This was a deliberate attempt to sneak things through when everybody was off on their Christmas holidays. Also, they knew the Standard would not be able to publish anything for days. It's an outrageous abuse of the council's powers and I'm sure the High Court will have something to say about this."

In a separate development Mr Dimoldenberg revealed that the council had admitted to a huge miscount of the number of single yellow line parking spaces that would have been axed under its original proposals. Instead of the 1,719 figure given to councillors, the real total was 8,463.

Under the new proposals, the council said removing single yellow lines would let pedestrians cross more safely at many junctions, allow emergency-response vehicles better access to buildings, and enable drivers to drop off passengers more easily.

It said its own research showed the move "should not materially impact" the ability of motorists to park on single yellow lines after 6.30pm.

A spokesman also insisted the timing of the announcement was driven by its desire to "get the information out there as quickly as possible so people could appreciate what it will mean. There was definitely no sweeping under the carpet".

The spokesman added that "over 90 per cent of these places cannot be parked on anyway because of the Highway Code". He said most of the new double yellow lines were on so called "dropped kerbs", where pedestrians cross, at 170 road junctions.

Lee Rowley, the council's cabinet member for parking and transport, said: "Highway Code rule 243 makes it clear you cannot park at a junction. We know that people still do inadvertently park on a junction and if they do they get a ticket. We think it's important to make it as clear as possible."

Westminster Older People's Action, an independent campaign group for local residents, said it was "wholeheartedly in favour" of the plan.

Q&A

What is the council doing?
Converting stretches of single yellow lines into double yellow lines across the West End on Monday January 9.

Which streets will be affected?
More than 200 roads in the West End, Mayfair, Fitzrovia and Marylebone, such as Berkeley Square, Mount Street and New Bond Street, will see at least some sections of single yellow lines converted into doubles.

What will this mean for motorists?
Less "free" parking spaces in the evenings and on Sundays will inevitably mean more drivers having to pay up to £4.80 an hour on metered bays or using car parks.

How many parking spaces will be lost?
The equivalent of 1,191 car spaces, around 16 per cent of the total in the affected zones of the West End.

How does this compare with the "tax on nightlife" abolition of all free West End parking in the evenings and on Sunday afternoons proposed, and shelved, by Westminster council?
That would have resulted in more than 8,400 fewer parking spaces.

Who could be affected by the council's new move?
According to critics, residents who struggle to find designated residents' parking spaces; pub, restaurant and casino staff, who rely on single yellow lines to park; theatregoers and other visitors. But the council says it will be much better for pedestrians and drivers dropping people off or picking them up.

Your say

Olivia Knowles, 23
works at Hard Rock Cafe on Old Park Lane: "There's a lot of people who drive to come here and people are already having to drive around for half an hour to find a space sometimes. This will just make it worse."

George Ellamaa, 39
chaffeur from Hertfordshire: "This will make it very hard for us. If you are on £10 an hour, you cannot afford to pay for parking if you want to stop and get something to eat. It's not worth it. We will have to drive around looking for somewhere to park. That will just add to the congestion."

Liliana Bujak, 38
lives on Baker Street and works in film production: "I park in the West End and it's already hard enough. Turning some of the single yellows into double yellows is just going to make it more expensive and nearly impossible."

Chris Ramsey, 23
duty manager of Clarence Bar, Mayfair: "This will affect customers who take their car into the area. Many already say it's difficult to park. A lot of businesses will be affected."

Ibrar Saleem, 36
contract lawyer from Walthamstow: "I take my disabled father into central London just to get him out. This will make that more difficult. Finding a parking space is already appalling and it's going to get worse."

By Peter Dominiczak, Michael Howie & Jonathan Prynn
The Evening Standard - Tuesday 3rd Janunary 2012
Click to see orignial article

A Mayfair estate agent hailed for leading the successful campaign against West End parking charges today spoke of his David and Goliath battle against the "tax on nightlife".

Peter Wetherell was the only objector to put his name to the High Court legal challenge to Westminster council's plan to make drivers pay to park in the evenings and on Sundays.

Today he called on campaigners not to give up - and warned Westminster that he would be back to fight if the council tries to introduce the fees next year. It comes after Westminster leader Colin Barrow announced that the charges would now be delayed until after next summer's Olympics, following a High Court judge's decision to allow a judicial review of the plan.

Today a quietly triumphant Mr Wetherell told the Standard: "We must not relax our vigil. There is still a risk that the present will be taken away again next year if Westminster council have their way. Let us all try to exert a moral authority against the council and tell them that the residents, businesses, workers and visitors do not want this for Mayfair.

"All I will say to Westminster City Council is listen to the Mayfair community, or else... I'll be back."

The 58-year-old, who is married with three children, began a petition in October against the plan to introduce the charges of up to £4.80 in the evenings and on Sundays from January 9. The move would have meant removing almost 2,000 free spaces from the West End. By November 1, his judicial review application was lodged at the High Court, backed financially by restaurateur Richard Caring, demonstrating that the campaigners meant business. Dozens of staff at Mr Caring's restaurants and clubs celebrated the court ruling last night.

One said: "It is great to have a boss who puts his money where his mouth is and is prepared to fight for our right to come to work - and not be taxed for it."

Mr Wetherell, who has worked in Mayfair for 40 years, was also supported by politicians and business leaders ranging from Boris Johnson to Peter Stringfellow. They believed Westminster would use the new charges to raise revenue and plug a "black hole" in the parking budget. Mr Wetherell said: "It appears that rather than find a solution to an identified problem, they decided on a policy and then sought to find the justification - and settled on 'traffic stress', which local residents tell me simply doesn't exist.

"I have never seen stakeholders so united against anything. Sadly, I have also never seen Westminster so intransigent either. But the long struggle against the charges was not easy. As soon as I was named on the judicial review application I became a target. It was made plain to me by the council that I would suffer the consequences of continuing in opposition.

"The council were demanding 'cross undertakings in damages', which means that I would have been liable for losses of income if the scheme is delayed. Had they succeeded in doing this, I could have ended up bankrupt. I have three young children."

A judge ruled on Wednesday that the council had a case to answer and ordered the postponement of the new charges until after a full hearing.

Your say: 'So many reasons it was a bad idea'

Mary Kate Murphy, 24 Hotel manager:
"It's fantastic the council has decided to put it off."

Adil Moollan, 28, Obstetrician from Swiss Cottage: "You couldn't even list the reasons why this would have been a bad idea on a piece of paper - there are so many."

Louise Kenny Surgeon from Acton: "They are right to scrap the charges. It's not safe to make female workers take the night bus home from work."

Luigi Polledri Owner of Bar Italia and Little Italy in Frith Street: "It's a sensible decision in the current economic climate."

By Mira Bar-Hillel and Jonathan Prynn
The Evening Standard - 16th December 2011
Click to see original article

Westminster Council spent £400,000 preparing to charge drivers for weekend parking before consultations were complete, BBC London has learned.

The authority has faced protests over plans to charge for West End parking during weekends and evenings.

It has now emerged the six-figure sum was spent on signage despite residents' opinions still being sought.

Labour said residents had been treated with "contempt", but the Conservatives said the costs would be recouped.

Critics say the outlay on signage shows the consultation was meaningless in the first place and the council had already made up its mind to bring in the new charges.
'Total contempt'

It comes after a High Court judge allowed a Judicial Review into the scheme, saying it was possible the council's consultation period had been too limited.

The leader of Labour in Westminster, Paul Dimoldenberg, said: "Westminster's consultation has been shambolic and no wonder the High Court was so scathing of the council's efforts.

"The council has treated residents and businesses with total contempt with £300,000 having being spent on new parking signs even before the consultation period was over."
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

Ordering the signs before the consultation had ended shows blatant contempt for the process”

Paul Pearson Parking campaigner

In his ruling, Mr Justice Collins wrote: "The consultation [carried out by Westminster Council] was arguably far too limited.

"There is a real risk of substantial damage to businesses and churches if it goes ahead."

The council first consulted the public and businesses last winter, and then in again early summer.

The BBC has obtained a series of emails showing that, following those two consultations, it placed an order for nearly £300,000-worth of signage and legal documents to enforce the new policy.

Another £100,000 was spent on other associated start-up costs.

But other consultations with residents were still continuing.

A letter sent to interested parties on 14 November reads: "The purpose of this letter is to provide you with information about a number of traffic regulation orders which the council intends to make to provide you with an opportunity to give us your comments, and to explain what further consultation will take place."

The letter concludes that the council would be "happy to receive any representation in writing by 2 December".

By this time the new signs had already been ordered.
'Other people's money'

Paul Pearson, who has been campaigning against the fees, pointed out that if the council loses its High Court case the money will have been wasted.

He said: "They should have waited - they risked other people's money when all they had to do was wait a while longer.

"Ordering the signs before the consultation had ended shows blatant contempt for the consultation process - they clearly had no intention of listening to what people had to say and this is wrong."
Pay and display machine The charges would operate until midnight Monday to Saturday, and 13:00 to 18:00 on Sundays

The leader of Westminster Council, Councillor Colin Barrow, said: "The judge rejected 10 of the 12 grounds for Judicial Review submitted by the applicants, but it does also require us to postpone implementation of the scheme, pending the full hearing.

"We are confident that we will be successful at such a hearing on the strengths of our arguments, the comprehensive consultation and the need to make central London less congested."

He continued: "Westminster Council has spent a total of around £400,000 on the changes to hours of parking controls in the West End.

"Should the scheme be implemented later in 2012, we anticipate recovering all but £25,000 of these costs."

The levy, from £2.20 to £4.40 an hour, would operate until midnight Monday to Saturday, and from 13:00 to 18:00 on Sundays.

Following the High Court ruling the scheme has been delayed from its intended start date of 9 January until after the Olympics.

By Ed Davey
BBC News, London - 15th December 2011
Click to see orignial article & video

Boris Johnson has said that plans to introduce night-time and weekend parking charges in London's West End have been postponed until after the Olympic Games.

He said that Colin Barrow, leader of Westminster Council, had decided extra charges should be delayed until "beyond the Olympics at the least".

He added it was important that businesses were allowed to prosper during the Games.

Labour said the plan should be dropped.
'Extra burdens'

Speaking to the BBC, the mayor of London said Westminster's leader had taken a "brave and correct" decision to "long grass" the plans which businesses have opposed.

He said: "It is very important that the West End should be confident and that businesses should not have any extra burdens."

A report has claimed the parking increases could cost firms £714m a year and lead to job losses.

The council had said the charge is to keep the streets "clean, safe and vibrant".

The levy, from £2.20 to £4.40 an hour, was due to be introduced on 9 January.

It was to operate until midnight Monday to Saturday, and from 13:00 to 18:00 on Sundays.

At first the council would not confirm Mr Johnson's announcement but did later, saying that it did not wish the public debate to "become a distraction to preparations for the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics".
Report 'flawed'

Earlier, BBC London transport correspondent Tom Edwards said Westminster Council had decided to delay the plans until March, when a judicial review will be held.

Labour councillors in Westminster had urged the council to delay the charge increase until after the Olympics, saying it was the "very least" that should happen.

Labour mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone said: "Westminster council should drop rather than delay its plans."

The council has already delayed the introduction once - the charges were due to start on 1 December.

A recent study commissioned by West Ending Campaign - West End businesses against the charge - said if the levy was introduced it could drive customers away.

The Conservative-run council said the report was flawed as it assumed that 20-25% of the "night-time population" travelled by car.

By BBC News London - 15th December 2011
Click to see original article

At last, Westminster council has been made to see sense. It has been obliged to suspend its plans to charge for parking in the West End in the evenings and on Sundays, as a result of a High Court ruling that the plan would "damage businesses and churches". The council has postponed introduction of the charges for at least nine months from January.

Londoners will breathe a sigh of relief. Rarely has a single scheme united so many disparate individuals and groups in opposition. Church figures, waiters, croupiers, business proprietors, chefs, theatregoers, shoppers, politicians and Peter Stringfellow all condemned the scheme. It would have driven shoppers from the West End, made play-going prohibitively expensive, forced struggling restaurants out of business, imposed huge costs on low-paid workers who have to travel late at night and taken much of the fun from theatreland.

This paper recognised, as the council did not, the strength of public feeling on the issue and how calamitous the effects would be. It would have taken an estimated £800 million a year out of the economy of the West End and cost perhaps 5,000 jobs.

The sleight of hand underlying the proposals was repugnant. The council argued that the move was an effort to reduce congestion. In fact, it was a general revenue-raising measure. Westminster needs money because it has for years kept its council tax rates unsustainably low. Now it faces financial difficulties. But the relatively small sums that the new charges would have raised pale in comparison with its cost for businesses, some of whom would not have survived a charge that would deter people from coming into the area. This was a tax on entertainment.

The other disappointing aspect of this affair has been Westminster's refusal to listen to argument. The people, businesses and institutions most affected by the move made it very clear how disastrous the charge would be. Yet Conservative councillors would not budge, notwithstanding the doubts voiced by Government ministers from their own party.

Londoners should be grateful to Peter Wetherell, the businessman who brought the judicial review which resulted in today's ruling. Now the council has been given time to consult further on the plans. But we very much hope that Westminster will now make clear that it is not just suspending its plans but dropping them entirely. It will simply have to find some other way of raising money than taxing the West End out of business through parking charges.

By Evening Standard Comment
The Evening Standard - 15th December 2011
Click to see original article

Businesses in London's West End will lose more than £700m a year in profits resulting in thousands of job losses should Westminster Council start charging to park in the evening in Central London, a new study claims.
The move would see the area's hotels, restaurants, pubs and theatres lose £714m in profits, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). That in turn, the study argues, would see those businesses cut just over 5,000 jobs to compensate for the lost business.

Under Westminster Council's plan, drivers will have to pay to park on single yellow lines from 6:30pm each day as well as on Sunday afternoons. Colin Barrow, the leader of the Council, has said the move is necessary to ease stifling congestion in one of the busiest parts of Britain's capital. The council has also said that the move should raise about £7m a year from drivers.

"There are serious figures and one needs to be very wary of changing the parameters for businesses at the heart of our tourism and entertainments offering," said Oliver Hogan, an economist at CEBR, whose research was commissioned by a trade group for businesses in the West End.

London Mayor Boris Johnson has called for the plan to be rethought amid concern it will dent tourism into the capital, particularly from those who drive in from elsewhere in the country.

The plan adds to anxieties that London's economy is also poised to suffer should the financial services industry cut more jobs next year as Western economies struggle to recover from the financial crisis.
Simon Thomas, who owns the Hippodrome Casino in London's Leicester Square, claimed that "it doesn't take a genius to work out that if you make it £25 more expensive to have a night out in one place, prospective customers might choose somewhere else to go."

By Richard Blackden
The Telegraph - Thursday 8th December 2011
Click to see the origninal article

Boris Johnson today called on Westminster council to abandon plans for night-time West End parking charges following a huge public backlash.

The Mayor hit out at the council's plans to impose a "tax on nightlife" which will raise millions of pounds and said: "It needs to be reviewed."

The council is proposing to abolish free parking on single yellow lines and parking bays between 6.30pm and midnight Monday to Saturday, and between 1pm and 6pm on Sundays. Parking will cost up to £4.80 per hour.

Mr Johnson today criticised the plans and told the Standard that he "warned" the council that the charges were a bad idea "months and months ago".

In a meeting at City Hall with council leader Colin Barrow last night the Mayor raised the issue and said he was given "reassurance...that this will be reviewed". He said today: "We have been talking to them over the past few months and are making this point as forcefully as we can."

But despite growing public anger Mr Barrow today remained defiant and insisted that he will go ahead with the scheme and the charges will only be reviewed after 18 months.

The council is being taken to the High Court following a rebellion led by top chefs, actors and night-time workers. In the biggest legal challenge of its kind, they will seek a judicial review of Westminster's plans.

Mr Johnson said: "It's something that I actually raised with Westminster months and months ago when they were planning this. I am worried about the threat to the night economy, the threat to local businesses and also to worship. The reassurance I've had is that this will be reviewed. They will take a view on all the aspects of it and that can only be a good thing. I think it's not a good idea. That's my view. I don't own every street and every pavement in London, but in this situation I support the people who are against it.

"I warned them strongly about the move but it came in."

Mr Barrow today ignored the Mayor's intervention and said: "This is and always was an experimental scheme. Everything will be up for review towards the end of the 18 months and not before.

"Boris's position is he is concerned about it as a number of people are - about their businesses, how they are going to get home - but if we thought it would have a major impact on businesses we would worry more. We have come to the conclusion it is better for businesses to reduce congestion." At an event to celebrate the gyratory around Piccadilly Circus becoming two-way Mr Johnson added: "I was concerned from day one months ago when this was first mooted and spoke to Colin then because of the potential damage to the night-time economy. It is pretty clear people are not happy."

Paul Dimoldenberg, Labour leader on Westminster council, criticised Mr Barrow and called on him to abandon his proposal. He said: "Every day somebody new comes out against this ridiculous parking charge. The fact that the Mayor has come out is extremely significant.

"The West End should not have to endure 18 months of this experiment in order to be proved wrong. Colin Barrow should perform a U-turn before he is responsible for damaging the West End economy."

Your say: We can't afford to pay

Khiley Williams, 24, receptionist, dancer and actor, lives in Sydenham: "I work at Quo Vadis restaurant in Soho and I rely on being able to park on the single yellow lines in the evenings. It will eat up a huge chunk of my money if I have to pay more than £4 an hour just so I can get home safely.

"I often finish at 2am and it would cost me about £30 for a taxi. I can't afford that. This is ridiculous and will affect a lot of people I know."

Paul Robinson, 42, manager of Bar Italia in Soho, lives in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire: "I sometimes don't finish until 4.30am or 5am and then it takes an hour and a half to drive home. With these new charges, plus petrol and congestion charge, I'm looking
at paying £50 a day on transport just to come to
work. I have three kids - I just can't afford that on my wage."

Amy Conroy, 26, welcome desk manager at W London hotel in Wardour Street, lives in Acton: "I don't want any of my staff having to walk to get their car in the early hours of the morning. It's not safe.

"The thought of getting public transport at that time of night is bad enough - just walking five minutes to catch the bus is a worrying situation if you are on your own. It's also bad for customers. What's the point of having roads if you can't use them?"

Taken From The Evening Standard - Thursday 3rd November 2011

Please Click to see the original