Caroline Pidgeon, the leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, has recently presented a petition to the Mayor of London calling for him to work with Hounslow Council to ensure that a rarely used bus stand at Feltham train station is turned into a short term drop off/pick off point for rail passengers.
The demands of the petition are backed up by powerful evidence that a huge number of local residents are being hit by penalty charges following the introduction of cameras by Hounslow Council. A recent freedom of information request and further inquiries have confirmed that there have been a total to date total of 7,119 penalty charge notices at this location. The total income received has been £337,724.48; with an additional £68,856.52 currently outstanding from 549 PCNs.
The petition, organised by local Liberal Democrat campaigners, calls for cars to be allowed a three minute time period before any parking offences are committed.
Caroline Pidgeon presented the petition of 316 signatures at City Hall at recent plenary meeting of the London Assembly at City Hall. She has previously joined local Liberal Democrat campaigners in collecting signatures when she visited the station last month.
Commenting on the need for a change in the rarely used bus stand Caroline Pidgeon said:
“Thousands of local residents have received severe parking fines just for being dropped off to use this station. It is time Hounslow Council ended this sharp practice and stopped ripping off train users. Creating a short term drop off/pick off for rail passengers seems entirely reasonable.
“You shouldn’t be punished for just getting a lift to the train station!”
Commenting further, local Lib Dem activist Jin Jhooti said:
"It is scandalous that so much money has been covertly raised by Hounslow Council. Although there is a sign at the start of the bus stand stating no stopping between 7am to 7pm between Monday to Saturday people are still receiving fines on a Sunday. If a passenger is picked up, or dropped off on a Sunday, drivers can still receive a penalty notice because tucked away and out of sight is another sign relating to further parking restrictions. This sign is only barely visible to people driving away from the bus stand."
"I have twice contacted Labour Cabinet Member responsible for parking and he has yet to explain where he stands on sorting out this issue."