Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest to note.

It was confirmed that the meeting would take place in public.

Councillor Janet Duncan attended as a Ward Councillor in support of the petitioners. 

Concerns, comments and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

• Mr Reeves, the lead petitioner, spoke on behalf of the petitioners.
• The petitioner asked if the idea was out for consultation. That from the letter the petitioner had received he could not see that any homework had been done by the Council, and that resident views had not been obtained.
• Mr Reeves asked if Council officers had considered the residents problems with the path being opened up.
• He asked if the report that requested the ‘stop up’ had been misplaced and asked if the officers had looked into police reports.
• The petitioners felt that they were in no different situation than the Cabinet Member Petition Hearing in October 2011 as the history of the path and reports had not been located.
• That if the path was re-opened then anti-social behaviour would re-commence.
• Residents felt very strongly about this and around 8 years ago there was an attempted child abduction on this path. They had the backing of the police at the time to close this path.
• It was in the public interest to close up the path.

A Ward Councillor spoke and raised the following points:

• The Ward Councillor stated that every single resident, apart from one, on Airdrie Close had signed the petition to request the Council ‘stop up’ the path. The one that did not sign it supported the petition but for various reasons did not sign it.
• Residents had accepted that the ‘stop up’ could only be carried out by a magistrate and asked that the Council supported this.
• As responsible people they should prevent any potential anti-social behaviour and crime, that this path had a history of this.
• That if the footpath was re-opened, could the Cabinet Member consider closing it at 6pm or earlier. This was similar to other paths in the Borough.
• In the past, and currently, there were problems with anti-social behaviour, drug taking and prostitution in the area. It was noted that Police patrols had increased in the area as a result.
• That during the winter the path would be extremely unsafe, particularly in the evenings.
• The Ward Councillor stressed that there was not a demand to open the path up. That money would be spent on something that people did not want.
• The Ward Councillor asked for re-consideration and for the Council to support the residents, and ask that the Council request from the magistrates that this path be ‘stopped up’.

Councillor Keith Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioners and responded to the points raised:

• Officers in a previous meeting were asked to investigate the history of the path and had found no formal request to ‘stop up’ this path.
• The Cabinet Member stressed the fact that no record had been found to ‘stop up’ the path and therefore as a public highway it could be opened up for use.
• He confirmed that the meeting  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

Councillors’ David Benson and Sukhpal Brar attended as Ward Councillor’s in support of the petitioners. 

Concerns, comments and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

• Mr Spink, the lead petitioner, spoke on behalf of the petitioners.
• At a Councillor Ward surgery the question of parking at the entrance to the village had been raised. As a result the present petition was organised and sent to the Council for consideration.
• Mr Spink was a Committee member for HASRA and therefore did this on behalf of the residents.
• Many drivers he spoke to were very frustrated at the parking of two large vans and cars which were frequently parked just inside the village entrance.
• This blocked the view for cars trying to enter the village. Drivers could not see if there was a vehicle approaching from the West as they got into the village from the East.
• If drivers tried to come in around the vehicles that were parked there and there werecars coming towards them then they would have to back up to let the cars come through.
• During school traffic peak times there often was a line of cars trying to get out of the village and the traffic was very busy at this time.
• There were often occasions when drivers became abusive and offensive.
• The problems with the parking had been going on for many years; the Council had introduced some double yellow lines but these did not solve the problem fully as the lines did not reach far enough into the village. The petitioners asked if the double yellow lines could be extended further into the High Street.
• The petitioner spoke about the chicane at the end of Acacia Mews. He suggested that if this was removed it would facilitate a free flow of traffic.

Ward Councillors spoke and raised the following points:

• It was noted that a major accident by the church had left part of the church damaged.
• This area was extremely problematic for traffic and the mini-roundabout was very busy.
• As vehicles came into the High Street cars could be backed up onto Hatch Lane due to the congestion.
• People were parking along the road with large vans and this caused problems with the congestion on the road.
• The Ward Councillors asked the Cabinet Member to agree measure which would clear the bottleneck and help traffic flow.
• Ward Councillors had carried out site visits and could confirm what residents were saying was 100% correct.

Councillor Keith Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioners and responded to the points raised:

• The Cabinet Member was familiar with the area and the problems on the road.
• He advised that to include the ‘at any time’ waiting restrictions this had to be advertised, under the relevant legislation. A notice would be placed in the local press and notices would be put on lampposts in the area.
• If any objections were received these would be passed to the Cabinet Member for consideration. If no objections were received  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

Councillor Jazz Dhillon attended as a Ward Councillor in support of the petitioners. 

Concerns, comments and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

• Councillor Jazz Dhillon spoke on behalf of the petition submitted.
• A request was put forward for a second speed survey on Skipton Drive from residents of Skipton Drive.
• 65% of households had signed the petition regarding speeding vehicles along the road.
• The Cabinet Member and officers were asked for advice on a way forward to resolve this issue.
• A possibility of a 30mph zone was discussed.
• The Ward Councillor stated that he received regular feedback from residents regarding this issue.
• He was informed by residents that speeding occurred more often at weekends.
• It was noted that the speed survey that was done previously had highlighted no issues; this was carried out 24/7 for a period of time.

Councillor Keith Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioners and responded to the points raised:

• The Cabinet Member stated that the perception of the speed of vehicles was always different.
• That when speed guns were visible that vehicles would slow down on approach.

Resolved - That the Cabinet Member:

1. Met and discussed with petitioners their concerns with speeding traffic in detail and the possible options to address issues that would be acceptable to residents.

2. A second traffic volume and speed survey be commissioned in Skipton Drive, Hayes and the results be reported back to the Cabinet Member.

3. Subject to the outcome of recommendation 2, asked officers to include the request and possible options in the Road Safety Programme

4. Asked Officers to liaise with the Pinkwell Safer Neighbourhood Team as part of further investigations and to identify any appropriate enforcement actions.

Reasons for recommendation

To allow the Cabinet Member to discuss in detail with petitioners their concerns.

Alternative Options Considered

These were identified from the discussions with the petitioners.

The Cabinet Member heard item 7, Hill Lane, and item 8, Hill Rise, together. The correction on page 32 of the agenda was noted, ‘Rise’ should read ‘Lane’.

Councillors’ Philip Corthorne and John Riley attended as Ward Councillors in support of the petitioners. 

Concerns, comments and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

• Mr Lee and Mr Burnside spoke on behalf of the petitioners.
• It was stated that the problems residents encountered related directly to commuter parking.
• Drivers left their cars parked in Hill Lane and Hill Rise and used the path to walk through to nearby West Ruislip rail station and went to work.
• This had changed the nature of the area from a pleasant residential street into a car park.
• Often cars were left for days at a time whilst the drivers went on holiday and got a train from the nearby station.
• The cars were parked there without reference to the convenience of the residents of Hill Lane and Hill Rise. There were times when it was difficult for residents to leave their drives due to the inconsiderate parking close to and directly opposite their crossovers.
• Residents had, on occasion, been prevented from going to work due to this and have had to leave their cars a considerable distance from their homes, and have had to walk considerable distances.
• Cars were parked on both sides of the road and tightly adjacent to driveways, which made it often impossible to exit and leave safely.
• Several incidents had occurred over the last year. This included an ambulance which had been unable to get to a house and had to park in the middle of the road. A fire engine could not get around the corner. Refuse lorries were reported to struggle every week on the road.
• Commuters would park their cars on top of rubbish sacks that residents had left on the road for collection. This would mean that rubbish would be left uncollected.
• There were a number of disabled residents and carers who found it difficult to get the ‘Dial-A-Ride’ and other vehicles to their homes.
• There were many blind spots as a result of commuter vehicles parking inconsiderately.
• Delivery vehicles often had trouble turning and had problems making deliveries.
• Residents requested a parking restriction of one hour per day, from perhaps 11am – Noon, to deter the commuter parking. It was noted that this arrangement was working well in other surrounding local streets in the area.
• Petitioners also asked the Cabinet Member to consider double yellow lines in the corners of the roads and pictures were distributed to the Cabinet Member to show the extent of the problem.
• Petitioners also explained that a rotary road sweeper had not swept the road in around 2 years.
• Petitioners noted that the situation had got worse since the last consultation exercise.
• There were also issues with commuters using resident drives to turn their cars around. Damage was sometimes caused to resident cars and property.

Ward Councillors spoke and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.