4 June 2016
Norwich Green Party councillor Denise Carlo has started a petition calling on the owners of the land at Earlham House to replace the current parking enforcement with a more reasonable approach.
Earlham House shopkeepers gathered on Tuesday to object to the heavy-handed approach to parking control by National Parking Enforcement Ltd (NPE) which they say is driving customers away.
NPE Ltd has issued numerous parking invoices on unreasonable grounds that include: drivers parked one wheel on the white line of a parking bay for a few minutes in an empty car park; disabled drivers penalised even when displaying a blue badge; and traders and deliverers issued with numerous parking invoices despite their entitlement to permits.
Richard Bray, owner of the Butcher shop, said: “My footfall has been affected by around 25% since NPE took on parking enforcement. I am very unhappy about it.”
Iftekhar Alam, owner of Rice and Spice, added: “NPE are scaring away my customers and undermining the small business community at Earlham House. My staff regularly receive parking tickets even with a permit on display. The use of CCTV 24 hours a day is making our small businesses an easy target.”
The petition asks Bellgold Properties Ltd, freehold owners of Earlham House who contract NPE Ltd, to tell the company to behave more reasonably as they are undermining the vitality of the shops.
Traders have also signed up to a letter written by Nelson Green Party ward Councillor Denise Carlo calling on the Government to tighten up the law on parking companies which manage parking on private land, citing the example of NPE’s operations at Earlham House.
Councillor Carlo said: “The root cause of NPE Ltd ripping off drivers is the lax national regulations governing parking on private land. The Government promised to bring in reforms but we have seen no sign, and in the meantime, local shopping centres such as Earlham House are suffering the consequences.”
You can add your name to the petition here.
