Olympic Parking: Hackney
If you live in an Olympic borough your summer just got more complicated. Huge swathes of the boroughs are to have new parking restrictions starting on 21 June and lasting until 9 September. Some restrictions will be covering areas that have been uncontrolled till now and all will operate from 8am until 9pm every day of the week, including weekends. Where restrictions are already longer than that (like Hackney Central and parts of Tower Hamlets) normal rules will apply.
In Hackney all the gold coloured zones shown in the map above, currently have no parking restrictions. During the games, roads off the Lower Clapton road down to the Lee Navigation and the Marshes (Lee Bridge, Millfields, Daubeney) and areas near Victoria Park will all be controlled. Residents will have to apply for a free pass and will also be given a limited number of visitors passes. You can have ten visitors a month and you cannot roll over your visitors from one month to another. Anyone renting property in the area will need to scan their hire documents and register their car on line.
While parking restrictions may be a nuisance for those affected, residents in the adjoining streets may find that they suffer more. The streets of Stamford Hill are largely uncontrolled and people who fancy walking to the games via the Downs, or taking a quick trip into Liverpool St, may well take advantage of this. As may those residents who forget to organise parking in time or do not have the requisit proof of residency to register their cars.
Tower Hamlets Parking
In Tower Hamlets affected areas are already controlled. While there will be no need to re-register cars, the affected zones will be covered until 9pm every evening (unless they already have longer periods covered). Existing visitors permits will cover the extended hours. In the Victoria Park area there is total confusuion about what the new parking restictions will mean. Residents have taken to Twitter to complain about conflicting signs and lack of clarity.
In some of the worst affected areas it will be impossible even for cars and cabs to stop and pick people up . According to a BBC report, Philip Batchelor, who suffers fron Osteoarthritis, will be forced to spend the summer in doors as he cannot get around without a cab. He is asking to be re-housed over the Olympic period.
Waste collections will also be affected with bin lorries in some areas forced to start at 5am. According to Jamie Blake, Tower Hamlets Service Head, Public Realm: ” We will be continually monitoring the situation and if congestion causes major problems we may need to introduce the earlier collection times in an effort to remove recycling and waste as efficiently as possible.”
EastLondonLines would like to hear from you if you are affected by the new parking restictions. Just add your comments below this story or Tweet us @eastlondonlines.
If you live in a household with more than one vehicle then you are basically screwed as you can only get one olympic permit per household. I will have to pay for private parking miles from my home for the duration of the games which is something I cant afford.
I parked my car in the same spot that I had done for the past 5 months on Well Street, in an unrestricted zone. I went away for a week, only to come back and find my car had been towed. With no previous warning they have placed restrictions on that street and I was charged £465 for the fine and the impounding. When challenged, they said that there had always been restricted parking on that street, well I have google map images of my vehicle and no indication of any restrictions that says otherwise. I’m still waiting to hear back from my challenge, but it’s just ridiculous.
I live in Leyton and although I personally don’t own a car, I have registered my address with LOCOG to get an account set up then I was able to apply for a permanent visitor’s parking permit for my daughter’s father.
Everything was sorted as per the rules, yet my daughter’s father’s car was clamped AND towed. We had to pay 400 pounds to get it back so he would be able to go to work that morning.
Funnily enough, the restrictions are in place from 8am till about 1pm then from 3pm until 9pm. He came way after 9pm in the night, yet his car got towed and removed in front of our eyes at 6.50 in the morning, i.e. before 8am. How does this all add up? What a rip off! Still fighting to get our money back as they ILLEGALLY towed his car.
These people are just trying to rip off residents and make money because they know a lot of people won’t really fight for their back…. I am sick and tired of both the Olympics and the Paralympics. I am sick of not having a good night’s sleep ever if he stays over because we have to fear his car would be illegally towed again.