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Camden News - by RICHARD OSLEY
Published: 06 November 2008

Plumber Faizal Mackee fitting a new shower at the home of Mary Hill

Plumbers forced to pass on £33 parking costs to customers

PLUMBERS are feeling the first bite of Camden’s dramatic 267 per cent hike in the cost of parking permits.
They have warned the financial pain will almost certainly be passed on to customers and that they will have to factor in the charges when billing for home improvements.
The Town Hall is now charging £33 a day for builders’ permits – parking passes which allow tradesman to leave their vans and cars near to the jobs they are working on.
Permits could previously be bought from as little as £8 a day.
Mary Hill, who lives in a sidestreet of Kentish Town Road, said she had only realised the leap in price when she booked plumber Faizal Mackee to install a new shower.
“Maintaining property is already very expensive,” she said. “This increased parking charge will be passed on by builders to residents when the work is undertaken. Major building work takes days or weeks to complete – an extra £33 a per day is an extortionate increase, especially as building work is already expensive.”
The cost is a blanket fee across the borough and the Town Hall has been warned that while the fee might not seem like a big deal to wealthy Hampstead homeowners involved in large refurbishment of their mansion properties, it will hit residents in other areas ordering more modest home improvements.
Ms Hill said: “I don’t think people are aware of how much it costs because there hasn’t been enough publicity about it. It will be a shock when people find out.”
Plumber Mr Mackee added: “People have already been shocked when I’ve told them how much it costs to get the permit. If we don’t add it to the price, then it is £33 a day out of my income which I wouldn’t be able to afford, and nor would most other tradesmen.”
The Town Hall said the rise had simply brought prices in line with fees in neighbouring Westminster and other London boroughs. The council insists the change is not part of a programme of “quick wins” ordered by parking department chiefs over the summer.
A spokesman said: “Permit charges have remained the same for the past three years and were considerably less than some of our neighbouring boroughs. For traders who work on numerous sites throughout the day, the £33 day charge will prove far more cost effective than paying separate tariffs in different areas.”

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I DON'T know why you think this is news. The LABOUR party imposed swingeing increases in Tradesmans Daily Permission to Park Permits when they were in power from £5 a day anywhere in the borough to a scale charge of between £9 and up to a new high of £33 in Hampstead village. And they introduced the increases without publicity and in August when many people are away. It's about time the Labour party realised that they bled motorists and other parkers for far too long through extortionate parking charges and punitive parking tickets. What happened? They got chucked out by the electorate, and good riddance too. Oh by the way, I used to be a Labour voter.
W. Silver