Agenda item

Report of the Divisional Director, Commissioning Services.

The Panel received a report of the Divisional Director, Commissioning Services which set out details of the petitions that had been received since the last Panel meeting and provided details of the Council’s investigations and findings where these had been undertaken.

 

Following a brief overview of the report, officers responded to Panel Members questions and comments as follows:

 

Petition 1 – Belmont Circle – Request for Controlled Parking Zone to be reviewed

 

·                     the pedestrian guard railings on both sides of Kenton Lane between Belmont Circle and the shopping parade extending westwards made it difficult for pedestrians to access the footway.  Recent traffic surveys had shown that there was an extremely high level of traffic in those streets, leading to queuing and displaced parking;

 

·                     the two free Council-owned car parks in the area tended to be used for long-term parking as they were not subject to enforcement action. This meant there was little parking for customers wishing to use the shops and restaurants in the area.

 

A Member, who was not a Member of the Panel, suggested that the implementation of the following measures would alleviate some of the issues faced by residents, traders, drivers and pedestrians using Belmont Circle:

 

·                     the introduction of 8.00 am to 6.30 pm parking restrictions along Kenton Lane, which would free up additional parking spaces;

 

·                     removal of the guard railings or the introduction of gaps in the railings to allow pedestrians to access the footway, which would increase footfall for the local traders;

 

·                     not relax the waiting restrictions on Kenmore Avenue as this would cause additional parking problems;

 

·                     introduce a maximum 4-hour limit on parking in the two free Council car parks;

 

·                     the phasing of the lights at the pedestrian crossing be reconfigured to give priority to pedestrians;

 

·                     improve the design of consultation documents sent to residents to provide more detailed information to enable them to make informed choices regarding the introduction of local parking schemes.

 

The Chair advised that he and the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Crime and Community Safety had recently visited the petitioners, who had indicated that they would welcome the introduction of pay and display bays in the Northern side of Belmont Circle.  He added that consultation documents had been revised and amended recently.  He proposed the following motion:

 

1.            the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Crime and Community Safety and officers be requested to consider introducing parking charges and a Monday to Saturday 4-hour maximum stay in the two free council car parks in Belmont Circle;

 

2.            the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Crime and Community Safety be requested to raise concerns with TfL regarding the re-phasing of the traffic lights in Belmont Circle, to favour pedestrians;

 

3.            Double Yellow Lines (DYLs) be changed to Single Yellow Lines on the Western arm of Kenton Lane, there be more robust enforcement of this and the DYLs on the Southern arm of the road be retained.

 

The motion was put to the vote and won unanimously.

 

Following further questions from the Panel, officers advised that:

 

·                     there was limited scope to introduce inset parking bays as their implementation was expensive and required removal of footway to provide additional carriageway.  Furthermore, the footways in Belmont Circle were considerably higher than the carriageway;

 

·                     the levels of congestion were significantly higher than usual for this class of road, which meant that the choice of parking controls that could be implemented was limited;

 

·                     it would advisable retain the full length of the guard railings for reasons of health and safety, as many local school children frequented the local shops;

 

·                     officers would discuss the request to re-phase the traffic lights with Transport For London, following discussions with the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Crime and Community Safety;

 

·                     officers would discuss the changes requested to the free Council car parks with the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Crime and Community Safety.

 

Officers responded to Panel Members questions and comments on the petitions below as follows:

 

Petition 2 – Kenton Road between Westfield Drive and Kenton Park Avenue (Double yellow lines)

 

·                     Kenton Road was part of the Strategic Road Network, and had large volumes of traffic, particularly at junctions, which made it unsuitable for the introduction of parking controls.

 

Petition 3 –Radley Gardens - Opposition to one way section near to the school

 

·                     the point no entry scheme should proceed on an experimental basis for a period of eighteen months after which it would be reviewed.

 

Petition 4 - Donnerfield Avenue – Requesting extra spaces or changing scheme to 24 hours zone

 

·                     segregating the P&D bays from residents’ parking would remove the ability of others to park in the area to use the park for example;

 

·                     officers would look into whether the P&D bays could be Capitalised and confirm this with Panel Members after the meeting.

 

Petition 5 – Pangbourne Drive - Request to be included in CPZ 

 

·                     the petitioners’ request for Pangbourne Drive to be included in the Canons Park area parking scheme could not be progressed due to the cost associated with doing this.  However, the request would be included in the Controlled Parking Zones and Parking Schemes – Annual Review report which would be submitted to the February 2016 Panel meeting.

 

Petition 8 – Sussex Road – Request to be included within CPZ

 

·                     the Somerset Road CPZ would shortly be consulted on.  Consultation documents would be dispatched on 1/2 December 2015 and residents would have until 4 January 2016 to respond. The deadline could not be extended as the results of the consultation would need to be collated and analysed in time to submit a report to the February 2016 meeting of the Panel.

 

Petition 11- Whitmore Road – Objection to proposed CPZ

 

The Panel agreed to discuss this petition as part of agenda item 11, Whitmore Road Area Parking Review – Statutory Consultation Results.

 

Petition 14 – Canning Road area – Request for review of hours in part of zone CA

 

·                     this request would be included in the Controlled Parking Zones and Parking Schemes – Annual Review report which would be submitted to the February 2016 Panel meeting.

 

Petition 15 – Westleigh Gardens – Request to extend double yellow lines

 

·                     this request would be included in the Controlled Parking Zones and Parking Schemes – Annual Review report which would be submitted to the February 2016 Panel meeting. 

 

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.