Drivers have been told they will have to pay up to £7,000 each to park on their own drives. Motorists are currently parking illegally because they do not have drop kerbs – meaning they have to drive on a pavement to get to their property.
Residents in Lambeth have been told they must apply for planning permission and get their kerbs dropped if they want to keep parking on their drives. The applications and construction will cost more than £6,000.
Kevin Joyce, 64, said: “I’ve lived in this house for more than 30 years and when I bought it, the driveway never had a dropped kerb. It’s never been a problem, the council have never said anything so why is it an issue now? To be honest, I never thought about making a dropped kerb, but I don’t want to be cut off from my driveway so might have to pay to get one put in.”
Mohamoud Ali, 25, said: “My car is only worth around £5,000 which is less than what it would cost me to put in a dropped kerb. I might now sell it and get the bus because my parking space will be worth more than my car. That just doesn’t make sense.”
Fozia Aga, 55, toldMail Onlineshe had applied for a dropped kerb three years ago – only for the authority to reject it. She built a driveway anyway but now believes the council wants to “make money out of desperate motorists”.
Lambeth Council says the move will help to tackle the “climate emergency” because “free unrestricted parking…has an impact on our climate.”
A spokesman for the council told Mail Online: “It is illegal to drive a vehicle over the pavement without having an authorised vehicle crossover. This requires a resident to make an application, gain approval and pay for the works to adapt the highway to enable safe access.”
The spokesman added that driving over pavements not adapted for vehicles causes damage that the council has to repair, as well as creating a risk that cars overhang onto pavements creating an obstruction.