Go to help local traders on the non-parking wing of Muswell Hill Broadway where they have been calling for a sign to warn motorists about a camera that will get them and then a ticket will follow.

There are only six parking spaces on this part of the Broadway – and yet there is perfectly good stopping space outside the bank and the shops for about six more cars. But a single yellow line there means stopping is an offence. Not unnaturally people do stop for a moment to go to the cash machine etc and get ticketed. A sign warning people that a camera is watching would stop people parking where there is a restriction and therefore they would not get a ticket. Strangely enough, the Council has now refused TWICE to allow a sign indicating that this part of the road is monitored by camera. This particular camera is leading to hundreds of tickets being issued. Nice little earner I hear you say. I support sensible parking restrictions to help traffic flow and improve safety – and rigorous (but fair) enforcement. Parking regulations have to be fair – and this is not fair.

But the other side of this issue is that there is no traffic reason that I can see for not giving this little stretch of road free short-stay parking. It’s not dangerous or obstructing traffic flow. Other parts of the Broadway have free short stay or completely free parking and the lack of any parking on this leg is affecting trade.

My colleague Cllr Martin Newton (Lib Dem, Fortis Green), working with local traders and shoppers (who have got a massive petition up), have got the Council to agree to a parking review. The other leg of the shops along Fortis Green and on the main Broadway have short stay parking – which works perfectly well. I strongly suspect the view of residents and businesses – if properly asked for in a genuine consultation – will be to introduce short-stay parking on this contentious bit where the camera operated.

We have to maximise parking for shopping for if the shops go – then our favourite areas will suffer. The balance has to be right – and where the public perceive unfairness, we should listen to them. Each local situation needs to be judged on whether restrictions are needed, the balance between businesses’ needs, residents’ needs and pedestrians and safety issues – and fairness. The minute creating a revenue stream dictates form – then function suffers.