Wetherell Mayfairs Fitnes Properties

Westminster Council has scrapped plans for evening and weekend parking charges in the West End, admitting defeat in a political battle that united business leaders, night workers, clergymen and actors against one of the country’s most powerful local authorities.

Critics had claimed the proposals to charge as much as £4.40 an hour for street parking on evenings and Sundays would “destroy” nightlife in London’s foremost entertainment district. Boris Johnson, London mayor, dubbed the scheme “completely mad”.

The Tory council will on Thursday announce it has abandoned the planned charges, days after Colin Barrow, the former hedge fund executive who spearheaded the anti-congestion measures, said he would step down as council leader.

“We’ve been persuaded by many voices that have been raised during this debate that the wider economy, both of the West End and of our neighbours, is just as important as the traffic management considerations on which we based the original decision,” Mr Barrow told the Financial Times.

He had previously argued that tighter parking restrictions were needed to combat traffic gridlock around the West End, while allies claimed opposition was concentrated among a narrow elite of wealthy restaurant and theatre-goers.

But critics, who called the measures a “tax on nightlife”, claimed such a levy would shave £800m off the West End economy and cost 5,000 jobs.

The council will now set up an independent commission, including members of the business community, to come up with alternative solutions to “support business, lessen congestion and improve quality of life for residents”.

Richard Dickinson, chief executive of New West End Company, which represents businesses in Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street, praised the U-turn.

“They have made a responsible and commendable decision that will ultimately benefit the West End when there is increasing pressure on the business community during these tough economic times.”

The charges had already been put on hold following a High Court ruling last month that gave the go-ahead for a judicial review of the plans.

Mr Barrow’s decision to scrap the scheme altogether comes ahead of the London mayoral election in May, when tensions between Westminster council and Mr Johnson, who is standing for re-election, threatened to embarrass the Tory campaign.

Speaking on Wednesday night, Mr Barrow said the council had a “statutory duty to manage traffic” but added: “What has been made clear to us is that that is only part of the whole picture and the impact of parking and traffic to the wider economy is something we must take into account as well.”

A former senior director at Man Group, the London-based hedge fund manager, Mr Barrow announced last week that he planned to step down in March but denied his departure was connected to the parking dispute.

He warned last night that combating traffic gridlock would remain a challenge for his successor. “The problem of congestion will not go away. The problem of availability of parking spaces will not go away,” he said.

“We need to think long and hard about how we manage traffic in the West End to allow people to go about their business, but it’s clear that these specific proposals did not command public support.

“I felt . . . it was right to act swiftly rather than wait for the election of a new council leader.”

By Andrew Ward
The Financial Times - Wednesday 18th January 2012
Click to see original article

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

Colin Barrow's political career will be best remembered for two spectacular failures.

In 2001 he lent his palatial Westminster town house - the former residence of the Bishop of London - to Michael Portillo to use as a campaign headquarters for the former defence secretary's doomed tilt at the Tory party leadership.

A decade later he sealed his own political fate with a hugely unpopular parking policy for the West End that united friend and foe against him.
Neither blot on his CV will unduly worry an insouciant operator who came into politics late in life having made enough money by his forties not to have to work again.

Born in Hampshire in 1952, Mr Barrow started his career as a commercial manager at the oil and gas engineering group John Brown before joining commodities trading giant ED&F Man - later to become the huge hedge fund operator Man Group - in 1983.

He worked for several years on Wall Street, describing his time there as "right in the middle of Gordon Gekko, greed is good, red braces. It was a fascinating, fascinating time. People really worked hard and wanted to get on and there was a sort of immigrant mentality."

Mr Barrow founded and ran Man's investment management arm up to its flotation in 1994, which made him a multi-millionaire. He left Man in 1996 and moved to a country house in Suffolk, in part in search of better care facilities for his autistic son, James.

Mr Barrow - an instinctive Conservative - became involved in party politics there, shortly after the electoral wipe-out of the 1997 Blair landslide.

In an interview he recalled: "I have always been interested in politics. I came out of business, I sold it and sat down and said 'what am I going to do now?' and found myself surrounded by men in blazers who said: 'Have you ever thought about going into local government? I was propelled into a seat, and the next thing I knew I was deputy leader of the Conservative group on Suffolk county council."

Mr Barrow moved back to London in 2001 and after the Portillo election bid, stood for Hyde Park ward in 2002.

He was quickly appointed to the Cabinet under the then leader Simon Milton and was given the economic development and transport role, where his responsibilities included parking.

In 2003, on his watch, plans to introduce evening parking charges in the West End were thrown out on the same grounds - excessive economic damage - he rejected out of hand this time.

At this time Mr Barrow became involved with three think tanks -C Change, the Policy Exchange and Localis - associated with the Tory party's modernising wing championed by rising star David Cameron. In 2004, the year he was appointed a CBE, he made three donations to Conservative Central Office totalling £30,750.

Mr Barrow was elected deputy leader of Westminster in 2005 and leader in 2008. His leadership got off to a rocky start when it emerged that the council had lost £17 million - £10 million on his watch - in the Icelandic banking meltdown.

Having sold the Westminster home, he now occupies with his fourth wife Ana - known not to be a fan of public transport - two adjacent apartments knocked into one in Exhibition Road, worth around £6 million.

He also owns a cabin on a "floating tax haven", a cruise liner called The World, which slowly circumnavigates the globe. Cabins range in price from £400,000 to £9 million.

He lists his hobbies as bridge, skiing, scuba diving and oriental art and loves to be seen at the Ivy, owned by his nemesis, Richard Caring, who funded the legal cases against the parking policy.

In 2009 Mr Barrow faced prosecution over unauthorised renovations carried out at the 330-year-old Darsham House in Suffolk. He and his ex-wife, Angelica, faced nine charges including replacing floorboards with chipboard and plywood. Mr Barrow and his ex-wife pleased not guilty to the charges and after spending £350,000 on legal costs they avoided a criminal conviction.

Mr Barrow remains chairman of his own hedge fund, Alpha Strategic, where a fellow director is the Deputy Mayor of London, Kit Malthouse. He said he now plans to devote his time to "writing and lecturing".

A close friend said Mr Barrow spoke last year about stepping down.

"He told me months ago that he was going to go in spring," the friend said. "He is almost 60, which has significance because his father died when he was 60. He said he wanted to clear the decks this year and that he had already started dropping a few commitments.

"It has been a rough old ride for him for the last two or three years so he said he was thinking about going."

Who is in the running to be the next leader of Westminster Council?

Jonathan Glanz
Age: 51 From: London

View on nightlife tax: Against, but has never spoken out publicly.

The cabinet member for housing is the only potential candidate for the leadership who represents West End ward. Did not attend the meeting when decision on parking charges was taken, but has never spoken publicly against.

The property solicitor maintains he has been vociferous in pointing out the pitfalls of the policy. Educated at University College London, he qualified as a solicitor in 1984 and set up his own property business in 1990. Spoke at 2010 Conservative Party conference about "greening" Soho.

Big supporter of the campaign to re-elect Boris Johnson, who has opposed the parking charges. A married father of a teenage son, his interests include opera and running.

Philippa Roe
Age: 49 From: London

View on nightlife tax: Unclear, but is keenly aware of need to raise revenue

Gave up career as Citigroup director after the birth of her twins. Elected to the council in 2006. With her money background - she was part of team that dreamed up the Private Finance Initiative - was put in charge of finance.

Described as a "technocrat" and seen as formidable intellect. Doubts about Colin Barrow led her to consider a leadership challenge last year. She is a governor of Imperial College, vice-chairman of Macmillan Cancer Support London Events and a patron of Breast Cancer Haven.

Has not spoken on parking charges, but as head of finance would know implications of scrapping the policy. Lives in a £4 million Belgravia home.

Edward Argar
Age: 34 From: Kent

View on nightlife tax: Not a fan - expected to scrap policy if wins

The Oxford-educated management consultant is favoured candidate of parking charge opponents. "Personable" and "pragmatic", the 44-year-old is said to have privately expressed misgivings about the policy. Was previously a political adviser to former shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram in the early Noughties.

Has made no secret of his parliamentary ambitions - he lost to Labour's Andrew Smith in the Oxford East constituency at last election - and may not want to tie himself down in the leadership role. He is cabinet member for city management.

Interests are reading, films, cooking, and watching cricket.

Brian Connell
Age: 41 From: Somerset

View on nightlife tax: Unclear, but as enterprise spokesman he is likely to be against

Son of a Somerset nurseryman. Describes himself as a "sometime adventurer" who loves marathon running and skiing. Environmental science graduate from Southampton University, he is a fellow of the Royal Geographic Society.

Joined KPMG in 2006. Was first elected in 2002 and spent much of 2009 working for Oliver Letwin in the Tories' policy unit. The married father of two is cabinet member for enterprise and volunteering and will have been bombarded with complaints about parking charges. His own views are not known. An outsider for leadership.

Questions and Answers

Why has Colin Barrow stepped down?
He says he always planned to quit at 60 but it is widely assumed that he came under huge pressure to go over the parking charges furore.

What happens now?
Initially, there will be a leadership vacuum at Westminster City Hall. The Tory group is due to meet on Wednesday night when candidates for the leadership are expected to emerge. A successor will be elected by Conservative councillors at the end of February and formally anointed by the full council on March 7.

What does it mean for the future of parking charges?
You can still park free in the West End in the evenings and on Sundays. It is not yet clear what will happen in future, but it seems highly likely that the policy will be dropped by Mr Barrow's successor. The introduction of the charges awaits the outcome of a judicial review, and they will not come in before the Olympics at the earliest in any case.

When will we know?
Soon. Candidates to take over from Mr Barrow will be expected to make their views known on this politically explosive subject during the leadership campaign. It would be a brave politician who said they planned to press on with the charges.

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

Colin Barrow's resignation was declared a "victory" by campaigners against Westminster's proposed parking charges - who demanded his successor ditch the plan for good.

Tessa Jowell, shadow minister for London and the Olympics and MP for Dulwich and West Norwood

"Colin Barrow's resignation is the result of the sustained campaign against his undemocratic and high-handed decision to make Westminster a no-go area for residents, tourists and business in the evenings. I congratulate all those who have campaigned against it so hard including the Standard."

Tony Lorenz, estate agent who chairs the Residents' Society of Mayfair and St James's

"It's a real victory. I think it's the end of the road for the night-time parking charges."

Elena Wilson, 36, part-time croupier at Aspinalls in Mayfair

"Resigning was the right thing for him to do. It's a victory for all the night workers who would be so badly affected by these terrible plans. We are hoping whoever takes charge will stand back and look at all the damage that's been done. The trust is gone. The new leader must do something to change all of this."

John Griffin, founder and chairman of Addison Lee - Britain's biggest minicab business

"For Barrow to lose contact with reality, how the parking plan could have destroyed so many businesses, shows he was not a fit person to be responsible for the people of central London. He has fallen on his sword. But whoever takes his place must look very closely at the reaction to these plans."

Ian Haworth, spokesman of the WestEnding group, which represents businesses opposed to restrictions on parking

"The architect of the charges fiasco has stepped aside but the plans have still to be dropped. This is a massive opportunity for a new council leader to make a decisive move and abandon the parking proposals once and for all."

Patricia Michelson, owner of La Fromagerie in Marylebone

"The new leader has a lot of work to do, and a lot of making up to do. We need this not just on the matter of parking but on a whole range of issues. We need to be included so we can make the West End workable again."

Louise Bennett, 30, gaming manager at Crockfords casino in Curzon Street, who has to drive 45 miles home to Hertfordshire after work

"I want [Barrow's] successor to see how much opposition there is to this and abandon the whole thing."

Dave Webster, Musicians Union organiser for the London region

"I hope this leads the council to climb down from their current position. I believe the 'no' to charges campaign has had something to do with this. Barrow has lost confidence in lots of camps - and people have lost their confidence in him."

Estate agent Peter Wetherell, whose High Court action against the council halted the charges

"Barrow is now doing the honourable act of falling on his sword, but he should put his house in order before walking away. Mr Barrow says he is going in March but the 'nightlife tax' plans must be scrapped immediately."

The Evening Standard - Monday 16th January 2012
Click to see orignial article

Colin Barrow's resignation brought a sigh of relief from Downing Street to City Hall. "It is good news," said one No 10 figure brutally. "Hopefully, we will now see the end of this craziness."

The madness was not just Westminster City Council's disastrously conceived parking charges, or indeed its mania for swamping the borough in double yellow lines. More, it was the extraordinary lack of political sensitivity or judgment with which they were imposed.

The Evening Standard can reveal that these concerns went even higher than those Cabinet ministers and advisers who issued public warnings in a vain attempt to make the proud leader admit he was wrong.

Senior political sources reveal that the Prime Minister was almost ready to speak out against the scheme days before it was postponed at Christmas. David Cameron was worried that the parking charges would damage jobs and growth, by driving customers and staff away from the West End.

The downfall of Colin Barrow - and downfall it is, for only a political ingénue would believe he always planned to quit on the eve of the London elections and the excitement of the Olympics - is a saga of single-minded stubbornness in the face of almost unanimous opposition.

Two years ago, Boris Johnson privately warned Mr Barrow that £4.80-an-hour parking charges would create a lot of noise and "people might not like that very much". The hedge fund tycoon, whose Maserati has its own private parking space at his home, pressed on regardless.

No one connected with local government has any doubts why: Westminster was in financial trouble. The flagship Tory council, a model of efficiency under revered former leader Sir Simon Milton, desperately needed cash and the parking charges would raise £7 million.

If Mr Barrow had a tin ear for the worries of restaurateurs, theatre managers and their staff, Conservative Party HQ was less sanguine. "It was obviously toxic in the run-up to the May elections," said a Tory campaigner.

Mr Johnson tried again as D-Day came closer. Sources have revealed he offered a deal to Mr Barrow: Postpone the charges and the pair would announce a joint-study into the economic impact.

"It gave him an exit route, because he could have dropped it quietly later on, but he would not buy it," says a source. "He closed off all his exits, one by one."

An array of Cabinet ministers voiced alarm, including Transport Secretary Justine Greening, Lords Leader Lord Strathclyde, transport minister Norman Baker and the PM's business adviser Lord Young. Mr Barrow seemed tone deaf. When the Standard disclosed that he kept a parking meter in his living room as an ornament, he began to look ridiculous.

Other figures pointed out that some London councils, such as Kensington and Chelsea, had scrapped miles of free on-street parking without massive fuss by taking their time, painting yellow lines one street at a time, and leaving Sunday mornings free for churchgoers. But Westminster was in too much of a hurry. "It called for a more sophisticated kind of leadership than he could give," said a Tory.

Early last month the Mayor finally went public and branded the council "completely mad". Strong words - but necessary to protect the Boris brand from contamination.

After losing a High Court hearing, Mr Barrow agreed to postpone the charges, though he still insists they are the right policy and, officially, they remain on the stocks.

His legacy is a terrible Hobson's choice for Westminster's next leaders - between a financial crisis if they drop the charges and a political crisis if they do not. The craziness is not yet over.

By Joe Murphy, Political Editor
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