Drivers woke up to a shock one morning as they were given what seemed to be parking tickets for parking on the curb.
Residents on Green Lane, Stanmore, received official notices from Harrow Borough Council to warn them that they will be fined from February 1.
Marilyn Ashton, councillor for Canons Park, said the council has been “high handed” about their approach.
She said: “The residents were completely unaware there was anything wrong until last week (January 25) then all a sudden, they received what looked like a penalty notice.
“Most of the people who’ve always parked there slightly up on the curb for years were horrified. First of all, they thought they has a parking ticket. One of the residents on The Stanmore Group told people to get in touch with me and I had loads of emails from really unhappy people.”
“It wasn’t a particularly friendly note – it was a formal warning. I made some enquiries as to why and as it transpires the council received a complaint from someone about the pavement.
“They didn’t want to to anyone like me or the other councillors – somebody that might know something – they just slapped the notice on. It’s really high handed.
“Before doing anything, you would think the council would ask a ward councillor if they knew anything about it. But no, of course they didn’t want to speak to anyone like me or the other councillors – somebody that might know something – they just slapped the notice on. It’s really high handed.
“I asked to see a copy of the complaint, I just want to get the context of it, but they wouldn’t send it to me, just an excerpt of it. I’m not interested in who wrote it, this is about a problem and my job as ward councillor is to solve these problems. I’m really angry about this as I’ve got a right to see this.
“I’m not very impressed, before the council slap warnings on people windscreens one would’ve thought they would want to talk to somebody to find out why. What are the residents going to do? They don’t have a garage or a drive. There might be an issue, but I don’t know. It has never been an issue in the many years I’ve been a councillor.
“Why do we have to be so nasty to people – I just don’t understand it. It’s like using a sledgehammer to crack open peanuts.”
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