Any old iron... redundant Westminster parking ban signs to be sold for scrap

Westminster parking: Signs will be sold for scrap
Michael Howie13 April 2012

Road signs ordered for the doomed West End parking ban are likely to be sold for scrap.

Westminster council is turning to metal dealers to claw back some of the cash wasted on the abandoned "nightlife tax". Last night its cabinet rubber-stamped the decision, announced this month, to drop plans for evening and Sunday parking charges.

A council report said £209,000 of the costs arising from the policy have been written off. Most of the money was spent on No Parking signs that are now gathering dust in a warehouse.

Lee Rowley, cabinet member for transportation and parking, said: "We are investigating every possible way to recoup some of the outlay. Some [signs] are made of plastic and some are metal. We are already looking at ways to recycle or reuse both types where we can." A Westminster spokesman added: "One option we are looking into is to sell them as scrap metal."

The borough said some could be reused with new wording or faces. It is understood officials are also considering selling them to other councils.
But scrap merchants said the council would only be able to recoup "a tiny fraction" of its costs, despite soaring metal prices. Aluminium signs fetch between £300 and £700 a tonne depending on the purity of the metal.

Paul Dimoldenberg, Westminster's Labour group leader, said: "Selling the signs for scrap sums up the fate of this whole fiasco."

According to a council report, the failed parking scheme left total costs of £705,000, but not all this was wasted as traffic studies and other research can be used for future policies.

The new parking charges would have earned cash-strapped Westminster up to £7 million a year. But churches, restaurants, theatres, residents, workers and visitors objected to the scheme, saying it would drive away trade, damage the economy and adversely affect night staff who need to drive to work.

An independent commission will be set up after the Olympics to consider traffic management policies and their effect on the area's economy.

Mr Barrow told last night's meeting the abandoned parking policy had been "drawn up professionally and carefully ... in good faith. But the key message from the consultation and controversy that followed was that it was clear these policies would have an effect on the health of the West End economy."

Tory councillor Jonathan Glanz said: "The congestion we see is part of the very success of the West End ... the buzz of the West End."

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