TORIES CALL HALT TO RESIDENTS' PARKING PILOTS!
Controversial plans to press ahead with Residents' Parking schemes in two parts of Bristol have been put on-hold after Tory Councillors swiftly challenged the decision.
The City's Labour Cabinet last night approved pilot schemes in Kingsdown and the Brandon Hill part of Clifton, despite widespread opposition and criticism of the Council's public consultation process.
But within minutes of receiving the go-ahead, Conservative leader Richard Eddy and Transport Spokesman Councillor Peter Abraham formally “called-in” the decision - effectively putting it on-hold until a special Council Scrutiny Panel can re-examine the plans.
Cllr Eddy, who earlier submitted a statement urging Cabinet Members to ditch the parking pilots, said that the Conservatives were challenging the move based on the poor quality of the consultation, the failure to take professional advice and the Council's lack of honesty over the schemes.
Cllr Eddy (Con, Bishopsworth) said: “We are convinced that these pilots will not fundamentally address current parking problems and will produce severe knock-on effects in neighbouring areas. In truth, they are merely an excuse to rip-off residents.
“Local people and businesses feel badly cheated by the poor quality of the consultation, which contained biased and slanted questions, and the superficial attention which the Council has paid to their concerns.
“This Labour Administration appears determined to bulldoze through 'pay-to-park' irrespective of the views of those most affected.
“No-one should be under any illusion that the Brandon Hill and Kingsdown pilots will be the end of the matter. They will be used as a 'Trojan Horse' to fleece residents in communities surrounding the city centre and beyond.”
A meeting of the cross-party Overview & Scrutiny Management Call-In Panel will now be scheduled to consider the matter.
The options available to the Panel are: to dismiss the call-in; to refer the issue back to Cabinet with revised recommendations; or to pass the matter on to Full Council for debate.
The decision to close St George Primary, St Pius X Primary and Stockwood Green School will now be considered at a meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny "Call-in" Sub-Committee, at a time yet to be arranged.
