Report of the Corporate Director of Place.
Minutes:
The Panel received a report which provided information about the identification, prioritisation, development and implementation of parking management schemes in Harrow. It informed Members about requests for parking schemes received by the Council. The report also recommended the programme of work for 2022/23 based on the Council’s agreed assessment criteria.
An officer gave a presentation in brief with the following being highlighted:
· There was a £300,000 revenue budget per annum for parking schemes across the borough, which was internal Council funding and not funding from TFL.
The Chair thanked the officer for their presentation and opened the floor to questions from the Advisory Panel to which officers answered as followed:
An Adviser raised that parking restrictions impacted the older demographic within Harrow and felt the 08:30 t0 20:30 restrictions to be draconian and raised the mental health impacts that this could have on residents due to the complexity of parking restrictions. The Adviser challenged the usefulness of parking restrictions if residents were hindered. In addition, the Adviser welcomed hour parking as it would deter commuters but aided residents.
· An Adviser noted that parking restrictions were often taken advantage of by people whereby people periodically moved their cars according to the parking restrictions.
· An Adviser raised the issue of sustainability and that there should be efforts directed towards encouraging active travel and the reduction of car ownership and noted the report had not mentioned other types of parking such as parking for cycles. They noted that 6-8 traditional bicycles could be parked in a single car park space and would be particularly useful for those who lived in HMOs or Flats.
· In addition, the Adviser also raised the potential for car club initiatives and cargo bike rental points all of which would reduce congestion and promote sustainable and active travel. The adviser also noted that there were other modes of transport that could be utilised by the older generation to get around and raised that this had been the case in other countries.
· In regard to non-standard cycles, it was noted that there were no parking facilities in Harrow that supported non-standard cycles and that disabled cyclists had not been mentioned in the Equality Impact Assessment for this report. The adviser suggested that section 106 monies be used for new developments, such as cycle storage so that cycling to be encouraged.
· It was mentioned by an Adviser that footway parking had been proven to generate difficulties to those with prams as well as disabled people.
Another Adviser that represented HAD also emphasised that cars parked on pavements could result in the pavement being damaged, which could cause obstruction for wheelchair users.
The Chair thanked the advisers for their comments and sought clarification over the legality of cars being parked on pavements. An officer explained that within London, footway parking was not permitted unless signage allowed. A minimum of 1.5m of footway had to be accessible and a review of footway parking within Harrow could be considered.
· Enforcement was raised by an Adviser by which it was emphasised that appropriate enforcement needed to be exercised in order for schemes to be truly effective.
An officer agreed that enforcement was an important factor that needed to be considered and that new technology such as digital permits could support Harrow Council with enforcement.
· A Member of the Panel proposed to add Gainsborough Gardens and Stag Lane to the list of schemes
RESOLVED: The Panel agreed:
That any substantive new requests received to undertake a controlled parking scheme or review that were not included within the agreed programme or priority list in Appendices B and C to the Parking Management Schemes Programme 2022/23 be referred to the Panel for consideration.
That it be recommended to the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Community Safety that:
(1) the list of proposed parking management schemes for 2022/23 as shown in Appendix B be approved;
(2) scheme design and public consultation on the parking management schemes listed in Appendix B and the plans detailed in Appendix E be undertaken;
(3) the proposed parking management schemes listed in Appendix B be implemented subject to further reports being provided on the outcomes of public and statutory consultations and receiving approval from the Portfolio Holder to proceed;
(4) Gainsborough Gardens, Stag Lane and Methuen Road, Edgware schemes be added to the parking list in Appendix B in replacement of schemes that are no longer being progressed, and Spencer Road, Wealdstone (north) be added to the Byron Road, Wealdstone (south) area parking review listed in Appendix B.
Supporting documents: