North Finchley Business Parking - think before you overcharge.

Business parking permits in North Finchley are currently under review. Until now I hadn't realised just how expensive they were.  Reading a recent delegated powers report was most enlightening where it states:
"The costs of the Business Permits prior to April 2011 were £310 for a specific vehicle permit and £620 for an any-vehicle permit and a maximum of 3 permits can be applied for by each business. These costs rose to £525 and £840 respectively in April 2011 as part of periodic reviews of parking charges across the borough. Following the price increase there was a marked reduction in the uptake in business permits in North Finchley and across the rest of the town centres in the Borough. At the beginning of 10/11 there were 194 permits issued to businesses in North Finchley. This dropped to 23 immediately after the increase, it rose to 79 in 12/13 and there are currently 110 Business Permits issued in North Finchley".
So it is making less money now that before the increase. The council is now looking at alternatives such as getting business permit holders to park in "under-utilised car parks" at Stanhope Road, Castle Road and Woodhouse Road. I would be asking why on earth these car parks are under utilised - and we all know the reason for that. This is yet another illustration of how Barnet act first and think of the consequences later. Anyone in business would have undertaken a bit more research FIRST not waited the whole thing had gone wrong. The council sent out 450 letters but have had only 7 responses so this provides no reliable basis for decision making. Such a limited response is perhaps an indicator of how isolated the council have become from the business community.

I just hope that all the proposals for revenue increases coming up under the One Barnet plan (of which there are many) as identified by Capita, don't have the same consequences.