Agenda and minutes

None.

All items were considered in public.

As set out in the agenda.

Concerns and suggestions from petitioners included the following:

·         The petition requested action to be taken to address the parking issues in Westwood Close.

·         Whiteheath Infant and Nursery School was partly responsible for traffic congestion and parking problems locally.

·         Parents parked on the footway which posed a threat to pedestrian safety.

·         Inconsiderate parking affected access and egress to the Close.

·         Inconsiderate parking also posed access difficulties to refuse vehicles as well as the Emergency Services.

·         As there was no parking at the school, local roads were badly affected, especially at drop off and picking up times.

·         Non-residents parked within the Close for prolonged periods, despite the notices which highlighted bays were for residents only.

·         There was inconsiderate parking on the grass verges within the Close. This activity hampered lines of sight and made manoeuvring vehicles more hazardous, as well as posing a threat to pedestrian safety.

·         Several residents had approached the Council regarding the perimeter fence and asked for this to be reinstated.

·         To address the parking problem, the petitioner suggested that double yellow lines could be installed alongside the footpath and further signage added about the current parking restrictions. It was also suggested that Officers should be more proactive in taking enforcement action.

·         Further action was required to protect the grass verge which had been badly damaged by cars parking on it. The suggestion was made that Officers might consider the erection of bollards or the introduction of a limited amount of stepped pavement to address this issue.

·         To increase the amount of available parking within the Close, the petitioner suggested that the lay bys were enlarged and diagonal parking bays installed which would create another 6 to 10 parking spaces and help to ease congestion.

Councillor Philip Corthorne attended as a ward Councillor.  He explained ward Councillors supported what residents had set out to achieve in relation to their parking issues and agreed that in principle further action was required. With regards to the request to reinstall the fence, he explained that while he was sympathetic, outstanding legal issues needed to be resolved.

Cllr Burrows explained the petition was unusual because it cut across the responsibilities of two Cabinet Member portfolios, namely the Cabinet Member for Social Services and Housing as well as the Member for Planning, Transportation and Recycling. Before addressing the points raised by the petitioner, Officers commented on the requests for signage and the reinstatement of the boundary fence.

In relation to signage, Officers confirmed that an order had already been placed with a contractor and the works should be completed by the end of December 2014.

With regards to the perimeter fence, Officers explained that although they sympathised with the request, the legal remedy was difficult to resolve because of the complexity of the land holdings within the Close. Officers reported that overtime, a number of the Council owned properties had been purchased and become private freeholds and as a result the covenants were complex.

It was noted that a number of the properties which  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Concerns and suggestions from petitioners included the following:

·         The petition requested the implementation of permit holder only parking and double yellow lines along a section of Sharps Lane, Ruislip.

·         As Manor Road was about to have a parking management scheme introduced, it was anticipated that Sharps Lane would be subject to displaced parking.

·         Due to the proximity of Sharps Lane to Ruislip High Street, it was an attractive road for non-residents to park in which resulted in significant amount of congestion.

·         The proximity of several pubs and restaurants meant that it was extremely difficult to park in the evenings.

·         Restaurants and pubs also meant there area was subject to anti-social behaviour on a regular basis, especially at closing times in the evenings.

·         Having contacted all the residents in Sharps Lane, all but 2 homes agreed in principle to the introduction of some form of parking controls and so this was the basis of requesting permit holder parking.

·         The petitioner highlighted in areas where Sharps Lane narrowed, accidents were an increased possibility. Furthermore, large vehicles such as buses sometimes had to stop to let passengers disembark which had resulted in some instances of antisocial behaviour from motorists.

Councillor Philip Corthorne attended as a ward Councillor.  He endorsed the points raised by the petitioner and commented that having heard about the issues raised, the proposed solutions illustrated there was a good sense of community.

Councillor Burrows highlighted that a similar request had been made by the residents in Hill Lane, Ruislip which was due to be considered in January 2015.  Agreeing the Officer recommendations in the report, he explained that when Hill Lane had also been considered, then the combined views of both these petitions would be used to inform the Council's future actions.

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Member:

1. Discusses with petitioners and listens to their request for permit holder parking and double yellow lines in a section of Sharps Lane, Ruislip as indicated on Appendix A.

2. Decided that an informal consultation should be undertaken with the residents of Sharps Lane that live between the junctions of Hill Lane and Bury Street, to see if the majority would support permit holder only parking bays operational 9am to 10pm everyday with extended double yellow lines to prevent obstructive parking.

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION

To allow the Cabinet Member to discuss with petitioners their concerns and if appropriate add their request to the parking schemes programme.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED / RISK MANAGEMENT

These were discussed with petitioners.

Councillor Jonathan Bianco attended the meeting and spoke as a Ward Councillor.

Concerns and suggestions from petitioners included the following:

·         In the last 12 months, the amount of traffic in the Close had increased significantly.

·         Some evenings it was impossible to park locally.

·         During the day, the Close was congested as a result of being used by shop keepers and shoppers for convenient parking.

·         The turning area at the west of the road was often too congested to be able to turn around in the road.

·         At present, cars were parked on both sides of the road and sometimes these blocked residents drive ways.

·         A significant number of dropped curbs were blocked most of time.

·         Often, parked cars on both sides of the road meant that children and the elderly were forced to walk into the road which meant there were concerns about pedestrian safety.

·         The new flats had also created a parking pressure as some residents chose not to use the underground car park as there was a service charge associated with its use.

Councillor Bianco spoke and agreed with the points the petitioner had raised. Speaking about the local area generally, it was noted the regeneration of Joel Street had caused some disruption to traffic flows and parking areas but this work had now been completed.

Councillor Bianco explained that while Parking Management Schemes could be successful, they needed the endorsement of the majority of the local community; otherwise they could become a source of contention. With parking management schemes, he noted that officers had to take existing dropped curbs into consideration and in most cases, this meant there would be less parking for local people. Residents had to decide whether, on balance, this proposal would meet their needs.

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

Councillor Burrows summarised the rationale behind parking management schemes and acknowledged that these could reduce the number of parking bays available.

In relation to the parking stress survey included within the Officer recommendations, Councillor Burrows explained how these were conducted, including what the duration of the study would be. He went on to explain that the results from this would be used to inform how to take matters forward.

With regards to the problems of people parking across dropped kerbs, Councillors Burrows confirmed that enforcement action would be taken. The following recommendations were moved at the meeting:

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Member:

1. Meets and discusses with petitioners their concerns with parking in Windsor Close, Northwood Hills.

2. Subject to the outcome of the above, asks officers to include Windsor Close in the future parking stress survey that is being commissioned for the area.

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION

The petition hearing will provide a valuable opportunity to hear directly from the petitioners of their concerns and suggestions. 

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED / RISK MANAGEMENT

These were discussed with petitioners.

Councillor George Cooper and Ray Graham attended the meeting and spoke as Ward Councillors.

Concerns and suggestions from petitioners included the following:

·         The petition requested the Council to investigate measures to make the junction of the road at The Crossway and Uxbridge Road safer for both drivers and pedestrians.

·         This stretch of road was particularly congested and all residents had encountered difficulties at some point.

·         The petitioner highlighted that one of the most serious issues related to vehicles turning out of the Crossway to access the westbound carriage way of Hillingdon Hill due to the high speeds.

·         At this point in the road, the visibility was especially bad and no u-turns should be permitted on this stretch of road.

·         Vehicles travelled at speeds far in excess of the national speed limit.

·         The number of lanes converging at the crossing point was also very dangerous.

·         There was a need to install speed cameras for vehicles travelling up Hillingdon Hill.

·         There had been a recent traffic accident which had involved the emergency services and someone needing to be cut out of one of the vehicles involved.

Councillor Cooper referred to the photograph in the agenda papers and explained that the most dangerous part of the road appeared to be where the westbound carriageway became one lane and the central reservation crossing point became one lane only.

He explained he was aware a traffic accident had occurred on 12 December 2014 and had caused a massive amount of disruption and all the emergency services had attended. It was his understanding that following their investigation, the Police did not classify the accident as non personal injury.

Councillor Burrows referred to the Police report which stated the accident had been classified as a damage only accident and was perplexed that the two accounts differed.

Councillor Ray Graham addressed the meeting and stated that he supported the petitioners' concerns, and actions should be taken to improve safety.

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

In relation to the accident reporting procedure, Councillor Burrows stated that Police accident data was used whenever the Council considered the merits of redesigning a traffic scheme. Every Council had a duty to consider the KSI's (Killed or seriously injured) statistics over a 3 year period but that according to paragraph 6 of the Officer report, there were no KSI's recorded in the last three years. As the accounts differed he requested Officers to contact the Police and verify the details of the traffic accident.

With regards to stopping motorists manoeuvring and conducting u-turns as well as the possibility of moving the crossing point further down the hill, Councillor Burrows stated that neither of these were viable options.

Turning to the Officer report, Cllr Burrows discussed the recommendations and commented as follows.

Petitioners were informed that the traffic volume and speed survey would provide a very valuable indication of what was happening at the Crossway and would be used to inform further actions. With  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.