Streatham woman has 20-minute walk to her car because she is not allowed to park outside her home

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

A driver faces a 20-minute trek to her car – because she can’t get a parking permit for the street where she lives.

Anna Livesey, 30, has been banned from leaving her vehicle anywhere – including a very close side street – near her flat in Streatham High Road since January 31.

New rules mean drivers must have a residents’ permit to park their cars down side streets.

But Lambeth council refuses to give Anna a pass because her address is not on a side street – despite the closest one being just five metres from her flat.

She is unable to park on her street, Streatham High Road, because it is a ‘red route’, one where motorists are barred from stopping.

The closest place Anna says she can now leave her car to her flat is a 20-minute walk from her flat along a stretch of road she feels unsafe walking at night.

She has pleaded with the council to give her a residents’ pass but it has so far refused – saying that if it made an exception for Anna it would have to give permits to dozens of others inconvenienced by the new rules.

She said: “I got the car to stay safe and now it takes five streets to get home.

“I don’t know where I can leave my car that isn’t a 20-minute walk away.

“I don’t want to be walking back in the dark. It would be the proper back streets.

“It’s a bit like ‘computer says no’ when I contact the council.

“They said ‘there’s nothing we can do – that’s the zone’

“The council said if we give you one, then we have to give one to other people in your flats.

“I was like ‘well yes because they need to park as well’.”

Lambeth council said it consulted residents living in the new restricted parking zones off Streatham High Road about the plans in summer 2021.

But Anna didn’t find out about the new rules until recently because she said the council didn’t consult people actually living in Streatham High Road – despite many of them relying on the side streets for parking.

The new controlled parking zone, called St Leonard’s Area North I, bans people without a parking permit from leaving their car on certain streets in the area around Streatham from Monday to Friday between noon and 2pm.

Restrictions came into force on January 31.

Lambeth council said the new rules were created after residents complained about commuters filling up parking spaces in the area.

In a statement, it said:  “The new St Leonards [Zone I] controlled parking zone (CPZ) was agreed following extensive consultation with residents over acute problems with parking in their area.

“A number of residents had raised concerns over the impact of uncontrolled parking, including the demand for commuter parking during the day conflicting with the needs of local residents and businesses.

“Council officers have been in correspondence with Ms Livesey, and explained that the boundary of the new CPZ does not include any properties on the eastern side of Streatham High Road, where her flat is located.

“Only those addresses inside the CPZ cordon are eligible for permits.”

Pictured: Streatham High Road - Credit Google Streetview