Council Reverses Decision to Charge for Parking at Norman Park

In the face of threatened legal action from Bromley & Blackheath Harriers Athletics Club Bromley Council have reversed their decision to charge for parking at Norman Park.

At the meeting of the Environment and Community Services Committee on 20th November, the Committee voted in favour of the proposal to charge for parking at Norman Park despite over 6000 signatures on a petition against the proposal, and despite opposition from all opposition councillors - the vote was carried because all of the Conservative Councillors (except one) voted in favour. 

However, Blackheath & Bromley Harriers Athletics Club who fund and manage the athletics facilities at Norman Park told the Council they would take legal action if they decided to proceed with this proposal. They have a lease with the Council signed in 2021 that gave the club the right for their employers and visitors to park in the car park without charge.

Councillor Julie Ireland reacted to the news - “The hundreds of park users and local residents who would have been affected by people parking on the streets to avoid the charges owe Blackheath & Bromley a huge debt of thanks for their prompt action. There are still questions to be asked as to why the Committee was presented with this proposal without the essential information about the lease, especially as we understand the Club wrote to the Council in advance of the Committee meeting to remind them of the terms of the lease.”

The Council will however proceed with the decision to charge Blue Badge holders for parking in car parks run by the Council across the borough. The Lib Dems will continue our fight against this - we object on principle to blue badge holders being charged for parking, but also because of the poor financial justifications put forward by the Council - there was a lack of any detailed evidence to justify the Council's estimate of income likely to be received.