Parking costs too high a price to pay

WITH reference to your story (Gazette, October 28), the cost of parking at some meters in Archway has increased by 60 per cent – this during tough times.

From my understanding, the costs have increased as they have been used 95 per cent of the time they are in operation and this automatically kicks in an increase.

It seems to me that we, as businesses, are paying a high price for getting people to use the bays in the first place – a victim of our own success?

The tariff change in Junction Road shows is now a meter can charge up to �3.60 per hour – an increase of 50 per cent.

If you are a client in the barbers who charge �8 for a cut and you have come down either as a resident after 2pm, or a non resident of Islington all day, and have a 45-minute wait for a cut and 45 minutes “in the chair”, that means you have paid �5.40 for parking (more than 50 per cent of the price of the haircut).

So to add to the unbelievable price increases that have gone on we now find out that we are losing our Saturday free parking – where does it end!

As I hope can be appreciated during the times that we are in, even the ever returning client will find it hard to keep loyal.

– Hak Huseyin, chairman, Archway Town Centre Management Group, via e-mail.