Wandsworth Council has rejected a proposal from businesses in Southfields to consider granting half an hour free parking in Wimbledon Park Road and Replingham Road.
In July 2014, the Southfields Business Forum asked the council to consider the change to the current controlled parking zone but officers recommended no changes be made.
According to a report to the community services overview and scrutiny committee on July 5 this year, existing parking controls are “working well” and free parking would be counter-productive.
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The report states: “It is the officers belief that any perceived benefit by businesses that a free parking period may offer a greater opportunity for shoppers is unfounded and that in the main it would simply become a convenient short stay car parking facility for the mini cabs that are based in this area.”
The petition asked councillors to consider a similar scheme to help boost trade in the area and when it was submitted in July 2014, had the support of 71 per cent of Southfields businesses.
The availability of free parking in the ‘grid’ road in Southfields influenced the decision by officers not to recommend the half an hour policy, as did a London Council report which found ‘free’ parking did not have an effect on footfall in a trading area.
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