Hundreds sign parking petition

Muswell Hill Journal 24

Fitim Kaca, Noemi Del Prete and Carmine Caruso, of La Porchetta restaurant

AN avalanche of shoppers, delivery drivers and diners are rushing in their hundreds to sign a "fair parking" petition against restrictions one trader has dubbed "too much".

The petition against parking restrictions on Muswell Hill Broadway is already well on the way to its target of 20,000 signatures since it started last week, with one restaurant racking up more than 400 phone calls of support in three days.

Veronica Pittalis, manageress of La Porchetta Italian restaurant and takeaway, said: "When we show our customers the petition they are very, very happy about it."

Most of them are from Muswell Hill. It shows that the people that live here are against it too.

"No one refuses to sign. I don't know why someone hasn't done this before.

"We have had over 400 signatures and we were too busy over the weekend to ask anyone to sign it."She added: "You come inside for two minutes and get a ticket. Some people come in, order a takeaway, go out, drive around for 10 minutes and come back.

"Others come in and say, 'Where can I park?' and I have to say, 'Nowhere'. Both the takeaway and the restaurant have been affected. I have been a manageress here for six years, so I know where the problem lies.

"Even the delivery drivers are now doing deliveries round the back, and it's very narrow.

"I understand you have to have restrictions, but this is too much."

The petition is the brainchild of Andrew Rowan, owner of The Jewellery Exchange on the Broadway.

It calls for the current 7am-6.30pm restrictions to be scrapped and replaced with a two-hour parking limit between 9.30am and 4.30pm, and for larger signs warning of bus lane and parking cameras along the Broadway north of Muswell Hill, from numbers 219-500.

Mr Rowan has set up a new traders' group, the Association of Muswell Hill Broadway Shops (AMHBS), which has recruited 40 shopkeepers and restaurant owners.

AMHBS is trying to compile 20,000 unique signatures in a month to present to Haringey Council.

It follows the high-profile protest of Sud Ashra, co-owner of Robert Bale Jewellers, who sat on a car about to be towed away in January in protest at restrictions. Haringey Council's executive member for transport, Councillor Peter Hillman, said plans were already in place to meet traders and discuss parking issues "shortly".