Agenda and minutes

None.

RESOLVED: That the meeting would take place in public.

Councillor Chamdal attended the meeting and spoke as Ward Councillor.

The lead petitioner attended and raised the following points regarding the petition.

·         That he was a charity shop owner and that the businesses on the parade were suffering as shoppers were not able to park their cars and visit the shops.

·         The 'Blue Dragon' staff park on the parade for the whole day and this stopped shoppers being able to park and visit the shops. This had caused the businesses on the parade to suffer.

Councillor Chamdal, speaking in support of the petition, raised the following points:

·         That as a small parade of shops they were particularly reliant on parking.

·         There were often no spaces available at all on the parade, or that there was double parking.

·         Other schemes implemented in the Borough have enhanced trade by

5 - 10%.

·         That the Councillor was a small business owner himself, but in a different area, and understood the need for small parades to have parking spaces in order for the business to be viable.

·         60 - 70% of people parking at the parade were parking for work.

·         Blue Dragon was a big firm with a large yard which they could use for parking.

The Cabinet Member, Councillor Keith Burrow, listened to the concerns raised; he noted that the parking was problematic and that residents and businesses needed to be consulted.

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Member:

1.    Met with the Petitioners to discuss the request for a 'Stop and Shop' parking scheme outside Westbourne Parade, Uxbridge Road, Hillingdon.

2.    Asked Officers for an informal consultation with businesses and residents and then according to the outcome to be added to the Council's forward parking programme.

3.    Asked Officers to communicate the results of the investigation to the Ward Councillors.

Councillor John Hensley attended the meeting and spoke as Ward Councillor.

The lead petitioner attended and raised the following points:

·         That there were parking restrictions on the surrounding roads.

·         This petition was being raised by parents of children at Glebe Primary School, Ickenham (a Specialist Resourced Provision for hearing - impaired children) who need to drop their children off in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon, or lunch time if they attend nursery.

·         The school catered for the hearing - impaired, and some of the children travel from further in the Borough to attend this specialist school. The school was growing and the parking issue may impact the future viability of the school.

·         The petitioners were willing to pay for permits and needed to have them so that children could be dropped at the school safely.

Councillor Hensley raised the following points:

·         That there was not an easy answer, as a former Chairman of a Planning Committee, he had agreed to the plans for new schools. The schools were encouraged to have a specific drop off point and Green Travel Plan to do the Glebe Primary School had been non compliant.

·         How many permits would be needed and how would they be distributed?

·         Residents who used the U10 bus, which was the route to Hillingdon Hospital, had found that the bus was not able to pass the school as not all the parents were parking sensibly.

·         That the roads near the school could be better utilised.

·         That in Ickenham there had been several new developments especially around Glebe Primary School.

·         That Officers recommendation 4 to monitor the amount of spare parking capacity should be increased from the suggested three months to six months.

Officers confirmed that to date Glebe Primary School had not produced a Green Travel Plan.

The Cabinet Member, Councillor Keith Burrows, listened to the concerns raised and informed the petitioners he had visited the school during drop off time and was aware of the issues. He acknowledged that parking around schools could be an emotive issue that it was not usual practice to issue parking permits to parents and that Glebe Primary School needed to work with Officers to address the issue.

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Member:

1.    Met with petitioners to listen and discuss the possibility of having parking permits for parents to park near Glebe Primary School.

2.    It was noted that it is not usual practice to introduce school parking permits but there were a small number of locations across the Borough where such scheme had been adopted.

3.    Noted that the present scheme was partly because of local residents concern about parking which was associated with Glebe Primary School. That a permit request would need to be explored as a possible option.

4.    That the monitoring of the amount of spare parking capacity in the roads close to Glebe Primary School would take place over three months possibly in the autumn covering term and holiday period. This could determine the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

This item was deferred following a request from the petitioner and agreement from the Cabinet member for Planning, Transportation and Recycling.

RESOLVED: That the item be deferred.

The Lead Petitioner sent his apologies.

Councillor Janet Duncan attended the meeting and spoke as the Ward Councillor in support of the petition. The following points were raised:

·         That the hearing had been scheduled therefore there was not the scope for intelligent intervention to take place at this stage.

·         That there had been complaints from Old Farm Road and Swan Road of increased opportunistic airport parking. 

·         All three Ward Councillors were aware of the issue and supported the petition.

·         That Old Farm Road and Caroline Close were included in the consultation.

The Cabinet Member, Councillor Keith Burrows, listened to the concerns raised and noted that a previous consultation had led to the decision not to act.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Cabinet Member listened to the concern with the parking situation in Swan Road, Thatcher Close, Swains Close and Classon Close.

2.    Noted the previous outcome of consultations had not generally indicated majority support for any proposals.

3.    Requested that Officers added the request to the Council's Parking Scheme Programme for future informal consultation.

4.    That Officers check the status (whether private) of Old Farm Road and Caroline Close. 

Ward Councillor Catherine Dann submitted written comments in advance of the meeting in support of the petition.

The Lead Petitioner raised the following points regarding their petition:

·         That he had spoken to nearly all the residents of Glenalla Road and that residents in different parts of the road had different issues.

·         In the north end of the road parking was on both sides and it was therefore difficult for the refuse truck, delivery lorries and emergency services to enter the road.

·         At the south end of the road residents from Eastcote Lane park on Glenalla Road.

·         Commuters also parked on Glenalla Road including weekly / holiday commuters.

·         In the middle of Glenalla Road there was a mixture of the previously mentioned problems.

·         The use of yellow lines could be considered but there was not a continuous kerb, due to the amount of dropped kerbs in place. Therefore the petitioners were willing to take advice on the options open. 

Ward Councillor Catherine Dann submitted written comments in advance of the meeting in support of the petition.

I have been contacted by residents who are concerned about two matters concerning the parking problems in Glenalla Road and they are;-

1) Large vehicles needing to have access to and from the road when delivering goods and the Council's Refuse vehicles due to parked cars this is frequently a problem.

2) Residents to decide on a suitable parking scheme to stop commuters using the road and leaving limited parking available for residents.

The report clearly highlights the problems and page 26 - No 5 and page 27 - No 6 & 7 , will I hope enable the petitioners to express their concerns to Councillor Keith Burrows.

Hopefully the outcome will be a proposal that will resolve this problem.

The Cabinet member, Councillor Keith Burrows listened to the concerns raised and noted that parking was often an issue around train stations. The Cabinet Member was keen to look at options for the residents and encouraged all the residents of Glenalla Road to participate in a consultation, which would be hand delivered by Officers to every household on the road; the majority of the returns would decide the outcome. The Cabinet Member encouraged residents to engage with their Ward Councillors and Officers as needed. 

The Officer added that there were many issues to consider and Officers sought to actively engage residents in the process and consultation.

1.    RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Member:

2.    Met with petitioners and listened to their concerns about Glenalla Road, Ruislip.

3.    Noted the prior work undertaken in conjunction with the residents and welcomed the petition as a helpful indication of their preferences.

4.    Asked Officers to add the request to the Council's extensive parking programme and develop proposals for an informal consultation.