A former councillor has accused staff at a housing association of abusing a parking system in Ealing on a "large scale".
Phil Taylor, Ealing councillor until May last year and former shadow cabinet member for transport and environment, said workers at A2Domininon routinely use "so-called service vouchers" to commute to their premises in Uxbridge Road and park in the adjacent Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ).
He said the terms and conditions for these vouchers state they should be used to park in CPZs for operational reasons only, which includes visits to residential or commercial properties and not for commuting, but A2 Dominion say their use is conducted in accordance with Ealing Council’s terms and conditions.
Mr Taylor said: “(On February 9) I watched one of their staff park in a CPZ bay on Mattock Lane and walk into A2 Dominion’s new building at 113 Uxbridge Road.
“It isn’t just one person. I counted 23 vehicles parked with service vouchers in Zone JJ CPZ on the northern leg of Culmington Road on June 17 last year. Coincidentally I found another 23 vehicles parked with service vouchers on January 15 this year.
“From talking to the people involved I know some of these people are council staff and some are A2Dominion. The sullen way in which these ‘public servants’ abuse the system they themselves are meant to administer is depressing to see.
"I have raised this matter twice with the council and local councillors. Nothing has changed and the councillors are mute.
“Both the JJ CPZ (abused by A2Dominion) and the W CPZ (abused by council staff) are immediately adjacent to the town centre and only operate for two hours so are cheap to use for the day if you stick two £1.20 vouchers in your window.”
But David Lingeman, A2Dominion’s Group Director of Property Services, said: “We purchase ‘service vouchers’ as a business, allowing our staff and those of Pyramid Plus to provide essential services to our residents.
“As far as we are aware, their use is conducted in accordance with Ealing Council’s terms and conditions.”
A council spokesman said: “The purchase of service vouchers by council staff is controlled and staff are explicitly prohibited from using them for commuter parking. We will continue to monitor their use and welcome any reporting of specific voucher serial numbers so we can investigate any possible misuse.
“Our terms and conditions already state that service vouchers should only be used for essential business visits and we are introducing changes later in the year that will make it easier for us to identify any misuse of the scheme.”
