Lewisham Council is proposing to make £1.5 million in three years from introducing new controlled parking zones (CPZs) and more cameras to clamp down on traffic offences.  

The proposals form part of the council’s draft budget cuts published last week and set to go to scrutiny this week.  

Nearly £27 million in possible cuts have been identified out of £40 million planned over the next three years.    

By introducing more CPZs, the council aims to reduce commuter parking, increase road safety, improve air quality, reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and help make the borough carbon neutral by 2030. 

It says extending CPZs borough-wide “would be a key tool as part of the council’s approach to tackling the climate emergency and reducing the impact of the car on the environment and health”.   

“There is a greater demand for parking than there is space available.  

“Most of the Victorian road network was not built to accommodate widespread car ownership and use which means the council must carefully manage the supply of on- and off-street parking space according to need,” an appendix attached to the draft cuts report states.  

According to the document there are 163kms of uncontrolled parking in the borough, 77 per cent of the available public highway. If CPZs were introduced into half of these streets, the council estimates an annual net income of £4 million. 

The proposal could be implemented from August 1, 2023. 

Minus implementation and ongoing costs over the next two years, the council estimates it will make £1 million in 2023/24. 

Introducing more enforcement cameras, which is expected to net the council £500,000 in fines by 2023, will clamp down on “all moving traffic offences, from banned turns, one ways, no entrys, and box junctions”.  

“This would primarily be targeted towards improving road safety and reducing injuries within the borough and meeting our and the Mayor for London’s targets,” according to the appendix. 

A recent study to “manage safety and congestion” on Lewisham’s main roads, focusing on 19 box junctions over five days, found more than 16,000 traffic offences.   

The council is proposing to review all 19 junctions and “install a network of 12 mobile cameras at these locations”, and to “rotate them as required”. 

This proposal could be implemented in 2021/22. 

The council has identified several risks related to the proposals, including a “perceived impact on personal access and business”, and that they won’t be “popular” with the public. 

But it also says there is a “wide range of positive impacts around environment, from local streetscape to air quality” and “reinvestment into local environmental improvements”. 

Income from either proposal, as is the law, will be put into roads and transport. 

A council spokesperson said: “The council is proposing to enforce traffic restrictions, many of which already exist and have been in operation for many years.   

“These restrictions are designed to manage traffic flows, to improve road safety and to improve air quality.  

“Enforcement by camera will encourage motorists to follow the rules of the road, improve compliance and assist with achieving a cleaner, safer Lewisham.  

“All funds raised through parking or traffic enforcement charges go into a ring-fenced account to be used for transport and parking-related activities.”