Norman Baker MP Member of Parliament for Lewes constituency
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Norman Baker,
23 East Street,
Lewes,
East Sussex,
BN7 2LJ.
Tel: (01273) 480281.
Fax: (01273) 480287.
Email: info
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Lewes MP calls for end of NCP contract for parking scheme
Lewes MP Norman Baker has today called on East Sussex County Council to rework their hugely unpopular parking scheme by ending the contract with NCP and instead run the scheme with their own staff.
In a letter to the Director of Transport and Environment, the MP asks the council to consider ending the arrangement with NCP forthwith, or if the cost to the taxpayer from ending the contract early would be prohibitive, then to agree in principle that the 5-year contract will not be renewed and enforcement instead taken back in house and in the meantime to instruct NCP to deploy a lighter touch than presently used.
Norman Baker says:
"Enough is enough. The heavy-handed and warden-intensive approach of NCP has swung public opinion firmly against the scheme and I believe drastic changes are now needed. Policing the scheme with the county’s own staff would allow a less intensive and more sensitive approach to be adopted, which would both save on costs and help rebuild public support for the scheme.
"It should be remembered that the concept of a residents’ parking scheme for Lewes is one that a majority of people in the town supported when polled. Unfortunately that goodwill has been thrown away by the aggressive approach taken by NCP with the approval of the county council – dishing out parking tickets on Good Friday, or to motorists displaying their disabled badge the wrong way up, even issuing penalties in the short time between people leaving their cars to get a ticket from the nearest machine and returning to their car to display it.
"The county council cannot carry on as they are and must listen to local people who want changes to this scheme."