Residents feel deceived after car-free blunder

By John Hill on February 4, 2010 10:30 AM |

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Horseferry Road residents have been told they now live in a "car-free" development - even though they've been given permits for eight years.

Occupants have learned that they are not entitled to cars under the building's planning agreement, a fact they say was not mentioned when they moved in nearly a decade ago.

The council blames housing association Newlon for not applying the ruling agreed in 1999, but admits it issued eight years of permits due to a fault.

Newlon says it "did know" of the agreement but that it was "not responsible for enforcing parking".

Residents submitted a 41-name petition to council last week calling for it to be withdrawn. They were encouraged by Blackwall and Cubitt Town councillor Tim Archer, who described the situation as "a joke".

Tenant Selda Bicer said: "I moved in around December 2002. No property was ever advertised as a car-free zone, and it wasn't on any of the documentation or information given to leaseholders.

As many as 27 independent solicitors have done the searches and no one came up with that fact.

"By chance, I went to the one-stop shop in Commercial Road to get a new permit for my partner, and was told it was a car-free area.

"There was no letter, no consultation process, no nothing.

"We're piggy in the middle of a huge mistake. We've got doctors, social workers and nurses here who will find it hard as they do shift work. I would never have moved in if I had known."

A spokesman for Newlon said it had been invited to meet with the council to discuss options, but that "it is too early to say what the outcome will be".

He said: "When people moved in, we did knew there was a condition that it was a car-free zone and we told them that. But we're talking about people who moved in a long time ago and the council hasn't enforced it. We're hopeful that there will be some kind of agreement, but we're not responsible for enforcing parking."

In a letter in November, the council's environmental control department apologised for "the fault within our system, which has meant that the existence of the car-free agreement had not been communicated to our Parking Service until recently".

However, it added that the agreement is "approved and lawful" and that Newlon "has not addressed its responsibilities" to inform residents.

A spokesman told The Wharf that it had offered residents a one-year permit extension, and "has asked officers to review whether it is appropriate for the council to enforce the car-free zone".