On 16th November Northwood Residents 'Association presented a petition to London Borough of Hillingdon (LBH) signed by a significant number of retailers in Northwood protesting against the large increase in parking charges for non-HillingdonFirst cardholders. Retailers are concerned that the severe increase in the hourly parking rate for those Northwood residents and others who live outside Hillingdon is affecting their businesses.
The outcome of the hearing was that, although LBH expressed sympathy for the problem, it was reaffirmed that the current differential parking rates will remain unchanged. However LBH has agreed to meet the petitioners to discuss their concerns.
In addition, council officers have been instructed to break down the statistics about HillingdonFirst card use, so that a comparison can be made between the number of HillingdonFirst cardholders and non-residents that are using the machines. This would show if there has been a drop in the number of non-HillingdonFirst cardholders using them and would also show use of the initial free half-hour period which is available to all.
