End of a battering for weary Muswell Hill motorists

TRY AS it might, Haringey Council just can t seem to master the art of right first time when it comes to parking issues in the west of the borough. It really shouldn t be beyond the wit of man to come up with an area-wide masterplan which provides accep

TRY AS it might, Haringey Council just can't seem to master the art of 'right first time' when it comes to parking issues in the west of the borough. It really shouldn't be beyond the wit of man to come up with an area-wide masterplan which provides acceptable solutions in particular areas. After all, people have been parking their cars in Crouch End and Muswell Hill for the best part of a century.

Admittedly, the numerics have changed as dramatically as the pneumatics over the years, but the issues remain the same. People need places to park and the council's job is merely to implement schemes which have the support of drivers, pedestrians, traders and residents.

Yet how confusing does this task seem to a council that ignores the fundamentals in favour of unnecessarily complex schemes which as often as not, have to be re-thought or even withdrawn within a matter of months?

The badly thought-out and poorly researched implementations of CPZs have been controversial and unpopular in many parts of the borough, from the lowlands of Finsbury Park all the way north to the loftiest parts of Muswell Hill. Now the council is acceding to the pleas of traders there who are convinced that draconian and confusing parking rules in the Broadway area are driving shoppers away.

At least the council has had the good grace to admit it got it wrong. On Monday parking officer Vincent Valerio was able to bring tidings of comfort and joy to a traders' meeting when he revealed that the rethink had come after more than 200 residents and traders criticised the current arrangements in a recent survey. Perhaps Haringey is the listening council after all!

Muswell Hill shoppers and traders alike will be delighted by the import of all this - summed up neatly by George Georgiou, of Toffs, who said: ''Most of my staff spent their time stopping customers from getting a parking ticket. Now they will be able to concentrate on serving fish and chips.''