Resident parking charges to rise by about 70% in January – the second rise in a year, and nobody is being asked

Hillingdon Council wants to put up the price of parking from January. Anyone using the Hillingdon First resident rate would pay about 70% more in most car parks and on-street bays, on top of this April’s rises, while non-residents would pay about 15% more. 

The decision is being made by Cabinet, the seven senior councillors who run the Council, led by Cllr Steve Tuckwell and supported by Ruislip Manor’s Susan O’Brien, on Thursday 22nd October.

This is separate from the parking consultation. In September the Council proposed a different set of changes: phone-only access to the Hillingdon First discount, fewer ticket machines, registration numbers on every ticket, a digital replacement for the card, and Sunday charges in Hayes. That is going to a 21-day public consultation, probably due to launch at the end of the month, with a Cabinet decision on 17th December. The price decision on 22nd October is a different report, and nobody is being asked about it.  It’s just going to happen.

How much more: street parking, St Martins Approach and the Lido

The first 30 minutes stay free for Hillingdon First cardholders, and so does Lido parking for up to three hours. Open a box below to see every resident price at that location, now and proposed.

The Hillingdon First discount shrinks from about 40% to about 10%

Take a one-hour stay on-street. A resident pays £1.50 now, which is £1.00 (40%) less than the £2.50 a non-resident pays. Under the proposal a resident would pay £2.60 against £2.90, only 30p (about 10%) less. The same pattern runs through the schedule: at St Martins Approach, over four hours, it goes from about 40% off to under 10%.

In most places a resident would pay more than a visitor pays today. At St Martins Approach over four hours, the new resident price (£8.60) is higher than the current non-resident price (£8.30).

The discount would still exist, but at about a quarter of its present size. And because the ticket machine consultation is separate, residents will be asked in November how they want to access the discount, after Cabinet has decided how much it’s worth.

The second rise in a year

In January we reported that the budget raised the resident price of a one-hour on-street stay from £1.10 to £1.50, and two hours from £2.00 to £3.30. The Council’s schedule now lists those as the current prices. The proposal would take them to £2.60 and £5.70: a one-hour stay would cost more than twice what it did before April, and two hours nearly three times.

You thought the petrol was expensive – wait until you park!

If the Council needs the money, why are the woods still free?

The schedule prices nearly every Ruislip car park the Council runs: St Martins Approach, Kingsend, Linden Avenue, Pembroke Gardens, Sidmouth Drive and the Lido. It doesn’t price the car parks in Ruislip Woods, including Bayhurst Wood and Mad Bess Wood, which we’ve reported are free to everyone, all the time. The report doesn’t mention them.

At the same time, the schedule raises the fee for the Scout camp site in Mad Bess Wood from £73 a night to £84 for residents, and from £80 to £92 for others. The camp site fee goes up, but parking in Mad Bess Wood stays free.

We’re the Ruislip Residents’ Association, and we’re not campaigning for charges in the woods. They’re part of a National Nature Reserve, and many people value free access. But a Council that says it must raise resident parking charges by about 70% to help close a £50 million gap should be able to say why any of its car parks are free, and whether the woods are a deliberate choice or an oversight.

Judged against the Council’s own priorities

The report says the fees fit two of the Cabinet’s six priorities, and marks the other four “N/A”. Cabinet adopted the priorities last month.

• “Putting our residents first.” The report says the proposals put residents first by protecting services, with “independent benchmarking” keeping charges good value for money, and the Hillingdon First discount maintained. We haven’t seen that benchmarking. The discount would shrink to about a quarter of its size, and the same priority promises “listening to your views to shape what we do”. Nobody is being asked.
• “Brilliant at the basics.” The report says the fees will “help ensure the Council’s financial sustainability”. That is a reason for the fees, but it doesn’t say how 70% for residents fits “keeping your neighbourhoods, roads and green spaces clean, safe and well maintained”.
• “Open for business” is marked N/A, yet it promises “revitalising your town centres”. Parking at the High Street and the town centre car parks is where this lands first.

We read the report – but we still don’t know…

• Why parking is different. It says only that charges move “closer to outer London averages whilst still providing a discount”. It gives no averages and no source. The only background paper is the Lyon Local Government review, which we haven’t seen. It should have been published, so we’ve asked for it.
• How big the discount should be. It promises “a discount”, but not how large. The schedule would cut the resident discount from about 40% to about 10%.
• Who chose the bigger rises. The report says the increases were discussed with members, who gave feedback on areas needing “more significant correction”. It doesn’t say which members, or which areas.
• What happens to demand. The risk table says there will be no 15% rise where income would fall. It doesn’t say whether a 70% rise for residents has been tested, and there’s nothing on what it means for shops and cafés on the High Street.
• A breakdown. The £3.3 million isn’t split by service, so there’s no way to see what parking raises.
• Equalities. The assessment box isn’t ticked. The report says only that the Council “believes” the proposals don’t adversely affect any protected characteristic.
• Whether a formal notice is needed. The Council’s September report on parking said changes might need amendments to Traffic Management Orders and Off-Street Parking Places Orders. This one doesn’t mention them.

What happens next

Cabinet meets at 7pm on Thursday 22nd October at the Civic Centre in Uxbridge. You can read the report and watch the meeting live on YouTube here, or watch the recording afterwards. You can also attend in person, with ID and security checks, but you can’t speak, and there are no public questions. Email is the way to be heard, so write to the Cabinet members before then, and tell them if one of them is your ward councillor:

• Cllr Steve Tuckwell, South Ruislip (Leader of the Council)
• Cllr Richard Mills, South Ruislip (Deputy Leader; Delightful Yuzu; Corporate Services, Digital & Transformation)
• Cllr Eddie Lavery, Ickenham & South Harefield (Finance; leads on this report)
• Cllr Wayne Bridges, Hillingdon East (Residents Services)
• Cllr Adam Bennett, Hillingdon West (Community, Environment & Enforcement)
• Cllr Susan O’Brien, Ruislip Manor (Adults, Children, Health & Care)
• Cllr Nick Denys, Eastcote (Planning, Housing & Property)

Cabinet’s decisions are published the day after the meeting, usually on the Friday. The Audit, Finance & Performance Select Committee then has five working days to call one in, which would mean by 5pm on Friday 30th October. A call-in needs a majority of the committee, so three of its five councillor members:

• Cllr Ekta Gohil, Northwood
• Cllr Jonathan Bianco, Northwood Hills
• Cllr Daniel Singham, Eastcote
• Cllr Peter Smallwood, Ruislip
• Cllr Tony Eginton, Pinkwell

Cllr Smallwood is the only Ruislip councillor on the committee, so he is the obvious first contact for Ruislip residents. If you want to ask the committee to call it in, write to its members as well as to Cabinet.

If you park on the High Street, at the Lido or at St Martins, we’d like to hear from you and we’ll share in a future update what we receive. If you email the Cabinet members or the committee, please copy us in: secretary2@ruislipresidents.org.uk.

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