Wetherell Mayfairs Fitnes Properties

Restaurateur Richard Caring is leading a new legal challenge to the planned removal of more than 1,000 West End parking spaces by Westminster council.

The owner of landmarks such as The Ivy, J Sheekey and Le Caprice will seek to block the council's move to convert stretches of single yellow lines to doubles in the High Court next week.

It is the second legal challenge to the Tory-run authority's clampdown on parking in the West End. A judicial review of proposed evening and Sunday parking charges of up to £4.80 an hour is due to be heard in March.

The council confirmed just before Christmas that single yellow lines on about 200 central London streets, mainly in Mayfair and Fitzrovia, will become doubles on January 9.

The decision has stirred up new uproar, being seen by many as a "backdoor" way of curbing parking in the West End after the so called "tax on nightlife" charges were postponed until after the Olympics.

Campaigners claim that the equivalent of 1,191 free out-of-hours spaces will be lost, although the council has insisted that the vast majority are unusable anyway because they are close to junctions.

Lawyers working for Mr Caring will argue that the council has not demonstrated that irresponsible parking on single yellow lines has contributed to congestion and that consultation about the changes was inadequate.

But Lee Rowley, Westminster's cabinet member for transport, dismissed the claims. He told the Standard: "These flimsy accusations are a joke. It would be more controversial if we didn't make these changes given various groups, including disabled representatives and even the leader of the Labour Party in Westminster, have called for them in the past.

"When the lives of disabled people and the elderly will be improved by these changes, it is nonsense to try to create controversy out of nothing.

"We announced the proposals to double yellow line dropped kerbs in March 2010, reconfirmed a review of road markings in August 2011 and received only one negative reply when we published our proposals in November." However, today new voices joined the opposition to the planned changes.

In a letter to the Standard, shadow London minister Tessa Jowell said: "It is outrageous that Westminster appears to be circumventing the legal judgment on its parking plans by converting single yellow lines around the West End into double yellows. Its original plans were almost universally condemned."

Tony Lorenz, chairman of the Residents Society of Mayfair and St James's, said: "This sneaky move to take away 1,000 spaces is ridiculous. Their plan is to take free car parking spaces away and then charge for meters instead. There is no problem with the yellow lines situation at the moment.

"What will happen is residents will grab the meter spaces when they come home from work, which means there won't be enough metered parking bays for people coming in to visit restaurants in the West End.

"They're going to have to drive around Mayfair looking for a space, causing more pollution and more traffic."

By Jonathan Prynn
The Evening Standard - Wednesday 4th January 2012
Click to see original 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

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

Council plan to extend parking charges to evenings and weekends heavily criticised by Boris Johnson and arts groups.

Westminster council plans to extend parking charges to evenings and weekends have been criticised by arts organisations and London's mayor. Photograph: Chris Young/PA

Some of the UK's biggest cultural organisations have weighed into the row over Westminster council's plan to extend central London parking charges into evenings and weekends, warning it will have a significant impact on audience numbers and revenues at the worst possible time.

In a letter published in the Guardian, the heads of eight organisations including the Royal Opera House, the V&A and the National Portrait Gallery, urge Westminster council to "reconsider policies which will have such a detrimental effect on the success of cultural organisations in Westminster and the economy of London in general".

Westminster is planning to introduce charges of up to £4.40 an hour from 6.30pm to midnight Monday to Saturday and 1pm to 6pm on Sundays.

The political reaction has been fierce. The London mayor, Boris Johnson, called it "completely mad" while the Liberal Democrat transport minister, Norman Baker, said they were close to vindictive: "You might even say that they constitute a war on the motorist."

Now museums and theatres have weighed in. One signatory, Tate director, Sir Nicholas Serota, said: "I'm sure it will enormously discourage people, particularly families, from visiting museums."

His sentiments were echoed by Julian Bird, chief executive officer of the Society of London Theatres, who said its objections were based on fact, not emotions, and had not been listened to by the council.

The last survey, he said, showed that just over 17% of theatre audiences travelled by car and for those over 55 it was above 20%, with the reasons more about access and security, rather than public transport. "It is a fact that if you change that model it will be very detrimental. We fundamentally believe this is a bad decision for our businesses across the West End."

"We feel there are facts that are not being considered in the council's consultation and decision making, they have not paid sufficient heed to feedback from businesses.

"Theatres sell around £500m of tickets every year and that translates in to well north of £2bn economic spend and most of that is spent in Westminster. This is huge business for the part of London that Westminster council controls and we just don't think that's being listened to and thought about. We're not the only ones saying it – everyone is saying it."

He would like to see a change of heart. "We would like nothing better than to sit round the table and discuss it but as far as we're concerned this is a genuinely bad decision for London and Londoners, full stop. Particularly in this economic environment, why do anything that puts people off coming in to the West End?"Westminster council has denied it is a money-making scheme and, legally, it is not permitted to introduce parking measures purely to generate revenue. It says it is intended to ease congestion in the West End.

The leader of Westminster council, Colin Barrow, last month wrote in the Guardian: "The objective is reducing congestion, providing space for those who need it, and helping the city work better for the benefit of all."

By Mark Brown
The Guardian - Sunday 11th December 2011
Click to see orignial article

Tom Conti says Westminster council is "criminally irresponsible". Jenny Seagrove laments its latest attack on motorists as "another nail in the coffin of ever decreasing theatre attendance", and a threat to single women who will be forced on to night buses in the early hours.

Major Ray Brown of Salvation Army's Regent Hall, who this week finds himself in unholy alliance with the casino operators of Mayfair, says of Conservative councillors: "They are squeezing us out, and hollowing out our activities."

Richard Caring, owner of most of the expensive restaurants you will have heard of, has complained it will cause havoc for his staff who finish at 3am.

Business owners, most of whom wish to keep their heads down for fear of picking a fight with Westminster, are discreetly chipping in to bankroll an application for judicial review that is expected to be filed at the High Court any day. There are rumours that the Church of England has quietly added £5,000 to the legal fund.

With all businesses facing the strongest economic headwinds in memory, Westminster council has chosen this moment to introduce a new £7 million-a-year disincentive for motorists coming to spend their money in the West End.

Parking permits, sky-rocketing meter rates, the congestion charge, and the 850 predatory, incentivised traffic wardens who roam the streets every day across the borough, have raised the cost of London driving in recent years. But free night-time parking after 6.30 pm and on Sundays - on single yellow lines or metres - has been sacrosanct. Until now.

From January 9, 8,600 metres of single lines - with space for some 1,719 cars according to figures compiled by Westminster's Labour grouping - will no longer be used for parking between 6.30 pm and midnight on Mondays to Saturdays and from 1pm - 6pm on Sundays. The same change to hours will apply to pay and display.

A multi-millionaire member of Annabel's tells the Standard privately of his fears for the valet parkers who will no longer take £20 at the door to put his Aston Martin on a single yellow line, though he concedes he is himself not first in line for symapathy.

By far the biggest blow will be felt by the nocturnal battalions of the West End - the casino croupiers, bar workers, the actors and theatre staff not grand enough to merit a paid minicab home, the musicians on £18,000 a year who cannot lug their cellos home on the tube, even if the trains are still running when they finish their performance.

Hayley Spong, of the Garrick Theatre says 16 per cent of London theatregoers use their car, accounting for 2.26 million theatre seats a year. She predicts many of these regular theatre goers will now forgo their trips into the West End.

"Sad that a London borough bearing such an illustrious name should contemplate such a crassly Philistine policy," says the imperious Dame Janet Suzman. "Or is greedy the word?"

Westminster won't hear of any suggestion this is about money. "We have a legal obligation to make sure the traffic flows," says Councillor Lee Rowley, head of parking matters, noting that in the heart of the West End the traffic can be heavier at 10pm than at 10am. "This is about traffic management, not about revenue raising."

For sure, some residents' groups have voiced concern about traffic late at night, but few people outside the ruling Conservative group believe him for a minute. Actually, Mr Rowley could not publicly say it was about raising revenue even if he knew it were true, because that would be illegal. (Parking revenues are supposed to be ringfenced and spent on roads and ever more extravagant 'calming' systems, not to plug general holes in the budget or compensate for loss of Whitehall grant aid.)

The borough has, after Wandsworth, the lowest council tax in the country. This means that a house in Mayfair that might sell for £10 million currently attracts a council tax bill of just £1,200 a year, roughly half of what was paid when the old rating system was still in force.

Bargain basement council tax rates in the affluent residential streets of Mayfair, Soho and Marylebone have been a Tory shibboleth since the days of the late Simon Milton, but to sustain them, Westminster has picked the pockets of motorists who drive into the centre of town.

Westminster was expecting to earn £29 million this year from parking tickets, but a £6 million pound black hole has opened in the budget, forcing urgent action.

Heaven forbid that anyone would suggest this black hole is related to Mr Rowley's actions in imposing new charges, but he does concede the new Sunday and evening regime will coincidentally raise between £4 million and £7 million a year.

"A lot of people are making a lot of noise about this," says Mr Rowley, "but we expected that." When asked to say which business or theatre or restaurant groups are demanding a reduction in parking spaces in the West End at night, he answers, without missing a beat, the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association - the biggest beneficiaries of the new regulations.

Meanwhile, West End churches are in despair over the changes, and all denominations are anxious about what this means for their congregations and their community work. Regent Hall, "the only church in Oxford Street", is the closest the Salvation Army has to its own cathedral and for decades band members have driven in from the suburbs on a Sunday with their vast brass instruments for all-day activities. Some of them are the third generation of church members to have been involved in the wider mission, which includes volunteering to bring in food and supplies.

"Our people care very deeply that we should have a presence in Westminster in the heart of the city," says Major Brown. But he says he cannot expect volunteers to pay up to £4.40 an hour to park their car at night or on a Sunday, and worries the church's mission is now under threat.

"This has nothing to do with government cuts, this is entirely a made-in-Westminster disaster," says Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Labour leader in Westminster. "The Conservatives thought the huge parking surpluses would go on forever, and now they are in a mess."

As for the Conservatives' claim it's not about revenue raising, Mr Dimoldenberg laughs. "No-one believes that for a minute."

The Conservative grouping seems to be in some disarray. Only one of their 48 councillors - Glenys Roberts who represents the West End ward - has opposed the measure, though some now seem to have cold feet as the January deadline looms. "I just cannot see the logic of effectively cordoning off the West End from motorists in these deeply straitened times," says Ms Roberts.

Peter Wetherell, who has run his eponymous Mayfair estate agency for 30 years, is speechless that at a time when hotel groups are pumping £500 million of new investment into central London, the council is threatening this by squeezing £7 million in new parking fees.

He predicts Tory councillors could be targeted by independents at the next council elections, and says there has been a "deafening silence" from Boris Johnson so far.

Contacted yesterday, the mayor declined to criticise Westminster directly beyond saying he was generally opposed to parking rules that hurt trade.

Mr Wetherell scoffs at the notion of a West End evening traffic 'problem', and puts his faith in those pressing for a judicial review.

"Westminster says heavy traffic in the West End in the evening is a problem. What nonsense, it's a measure of London's success."

PARKING BY NUMBERS IN WESTMINSTER

850
Parking wardens patrolling Westminster

£130
Top cost of Penalty Charge Notices

8,600
metres of single yellow lines, parking on which will be illegal at night and on weekends from January 9

1,719
car parking spaces removed by the new regulations.

1
Conservative councillors opposing parking charges

£29m
What Westminster expects to earn in parking fines this year.

£4.40
Per hour on most expensive meters. (Zone G: Soho, Covent Garden, Holborn.)

£50-£132
Annual costs of residents' parking permits in Westminster.

by Stephen Robinson
27 Oct 2011 - The Evening Standard

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