Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:  That all items be considered in public.

Councillor Allan Kauffman attended the meeting and spoke as a Ward Councillor in support of the petition.  As she was unable to attend the meeting, Councillor Kelly had submitted her comments which were read out by Councillor Burrows. 

Concerns and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

·         West End Road was used by residents to access the bus stop, train station and GP surgeries which were on the other side of the road - there were some residents that walked along the road four or five times each day;

·         It was suggested that the footpath was not wide enough for bicycles and pedestrians and some cyclists used both sides of the pavement as there was no deterrent to stop them doing this; 

·         There had been instances where adult cyclists had sworn at and abused pedestrians and the petition organiser had been knocked over and injured by a female cyclist;

·         The current shared arrangement was not thought to be safe and there appeared to be only one sign along the whole length of West End Road; and

·         When the road had been resurfaced, the bollards on the cycle path side had been removed and not replaced.  As a result, the tactile paving had been smashed up and the grass verges had been destroyed as cars drove over them.  Councillor Kauffman had raised this issue with Dalton Cenac who had advised that the bollards could be put in as necessary.

Councillor Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioners and responded to the points raised.  He noted that the problem cyclists were not the smaller children travelling to school but the older children and adults.  Similar shared footway arrangements were in place elsewhere in the Borough and seemed to work well in those areas.  The Cabinet Member asked that officers attend his weekly meeting to confirm that they had visited the site and to provide an update regarding the measures that would be put in place, particularly in relation to the bollards.  The location of the missing bollards would be available on the street file.  The Ward Councillors would be advised of any action that would be taken by the officers.

RESOLVED:  That the Cabinet Member for Planning, Transportation and Recycling:

1.    met with and listened to the petitioners’ concerns;

2.    noted that the shared cycle/footway arose as a direct consequence of a previous petition from local residents, asking specifically for such provision;

3.    noted that prior to the development of the proposals, it had been established that there was a significant history of accidents between pedal cyclists and other road users in this section of West End Road;

4.    noted that the path surface and drainage had improved significantly as a consequence of the measures;

5.    noted that, of the petitioners supporting the present petition, a clear majority (82%) do not live on West End Road but in adjacent roads;

6.    asked officers to consider the petitioners’ concerns, and if deemed appropriate to undertake further investigation and report back to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

Councillors Peter Money and June Nelson attended the meeting and spoke as Ward Councillors in support of the petition.  In the absence of the petition organiser or any petitioners, the Ward Councillors requested that the petition be considered. 

Concerns and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

·         St Peters Way and St Pauls Close were narrow residential roads in which taxis routinely parked.  The car washes on the main road also added to the congestion;

·         There had been around 1,100 penalty charge notices issued in the area which highlighted the issue faced by residents;

·         The majority of signatures on the petition were from residents of Woodforde Court which comprised sheltered housing for older people;

·         There had been instances where the road had been so congested that emergency vehicles had been unable to access the road.  A video had been recorded where a patient had had to be stretchered along the road as the ambulance had been unable to get close to the property;

·         When the roads had last been consulted about the possibility of introducing a residents parking scheme, there had been strong opposition from the church and the GP surgery.  Consideration would need to be given to the operational times else this was likely to continue to be a reason to reject the proposal;

·         It was noted that the GP surgery and the hospice had their own parking (although this might not be sufficient to meet the demand of their visitors);

·         It was suggested that the area from the church to the main road should be pay and display and the remainder of the roads should be residents only parking; 

·         Richards Close had recently been approved for inclusion in the residents parking scheme which meant that Bletchmore Close, St Peters Close and St Peters Way were the only roads in this area that had not been included in the scheme; and

·         The Ward Councillors noted that the lack of street lighting was being pursued via a different route.  They had also been receiving complaints about taxis being parked along Stockley Road as it was thought that they were likely to cause an accident in the near future.

Councillor Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioners and responded to the points raised.  Given the number of taxi drivers and the impact of the car wash, it was agreed that a shared use provision be introduced with two hour pay and display parking in one section and residents' only parking in the remainder of St Peters Way and St Peters Close.  The Cabinet Member asked that officers include the residents in Bletchmore Close in the consultation that was undertaken.  Councillor Burrows advised that he would meet with officers to agree the priorities for the programme.

RESOLVED:  Meeting with the petitioners, the Cabinet Member:

1.    listened to their request for a residents' permit parking scheme to be introduced in St Peters Way and St Pauls Close, Harlington.

2.    asked officers to add the request for a permit parking scheme in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Councillor Lynne Allen attended the meeting and spoke as a Ward Councillor in support of the petition.  Councillor Janet Gardner had submitted her support for the petition in an email which was read out to those present.

Concerns and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

·         The lead petitioner advised that this issue had been going on for the last two years with many roads in the area affected by inconsiderate parking;

·         Whilst residents were accepting of parents needing to drop their children off at school and then pick them up, they requested that an enforcement officer be present to issue penalty charge notices to those drivers that blocked driveways and parked in such a way that prevented emergency vehicles from accessing the road;

·         The lead petitioner advised that he had photographs of the issues in Barra Wood Road and Wood End Green Road which he would be happy to forward to the Council.  One photograph showed a driver parked on the pavement on a corner;

·         Residents had been quite vocal about not wanting a residents' parking scheme or bollards and the lead petitioner was keen to not cause any additional expenditure to the Council.  It was recognised that the introduction of residents parking was likely to displace the parking rather than get rid of it;

·         Rosedale Primary School had written to residents about constructing a driveway on the school premises to enable parents to drop their children off, thus alleviating the impact on residents but no further action had been taken;

·         It was suggested that the school pay for a parking enforcement officer;

·         Although the school had inspected the area around the school for the first couple of months after this issue had been raised by residents, these inspections were no longer undertaken;

·         Emotions sometimes ran high and children had witnessed adults verbally abusing each other.  Residents had also formally reported instances of anti social behaviour; 

·         It was suggested that the installation of a zebra crossing would improve the safety for school children as there had been instances where there had almost been an accident involving them;

·         It was noted that there had been no problems in the area before the school had been extended and that consideration should have been given to the impact of the associated traffic when the school was developed;

·         Although they had been told not to, ice cream vans continued to park outside the school at the end of the school day which added to the congestion;

·         Civil Enforcement Officers patrolled the area around Rosedale Primary School on an intermittent basis; and

·         It was suggested that the school be invited to attend a meeting with the Ward Councillors and Council officers to resolve the issue.

Councillor Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioners and responded to the points raised.  He clarified with the petitioners that they did not want a residents only parking scheme but would potentially like some form of parking restrictions.  It was noted that Council officers had tried to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Councillor Brian Stead attended the meeting and spoke as a Ward Councillor in support of the petition.  Councillor Richard Mills had submitted his support for the petition in an email which was read out to those present.

Concerns and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

·         Harlington Road was a long road with side roads that were becoming increasingly congested;

·         The petition organiser's car tyres had been slashed five times, other residents had reported at least five similar incidents and non-residents had been seen standing by their vehicles on their mobile phones calling for help as their tyres had been slashed.  In addition, residents' cars were being deliberately scratched.  These incidents had been reported to the police but there had been no evidence to identify the perpetrator/s;

·         Residents tried to park in areas that were deemed 'safer' where their cars were less likely to cause offence and therefore less likely to be vandalised; 

·         The Prince of Wales public house had been reopened as a bar and restaurant.  As part of the car park had been converted into a beer garden, the available parking for patrons had been reduced which caused more congestion in the surrounding roads;

·         Residents were finding it increasingly difficult to park anywhere near their properties and would sometimes have a twenty minute walk back to their homes;

·         One of the residents was disabled and would benefit from a disabled parking bay;

·         There had been occasions where drivers had parked their vehicles, gone on holiday and returned to their cars five weeks later; and

·         A street surgery had been held where the biggest complaint from residents had been the lack of parking. At this event, the police had been unaware of the vandalism that had been taking place and committed to undertaking more regular sweeps of the area.

Councillor Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioners and responded to the points raised.  He was aware that a parking management scheme was due to be implemented in Turks Close in the near future.  If consideration was to be given to including Harlington Road in a parking management scheme, it would be prudent to include Hilliers Avenue, Coney Grove, Southfield Close and Temple Park in the consultation. 

It was noted that a comprehensive parking management scheme in the area would allow only residents to park there and prevent non-residents that used the pub / restaurant from causing parking congestion and possibly reduced the vehicle vandalism currently experienced. 

The Cabinet Member suggested that the Ward Councillors liaise with the Safer Neighbourhood Team.  He also asked that officers liaise with the Ward Councillors to determine which roads should be included in a further informal consultation.  It was agreed that Harlington Road would be included in the programme and that the informal consultation would be progressed as quickly as the extensive programme allowed. 

RESOLVED:  Meeting with the petitioners, the Cabinet Member:

1.    listened to their request for the introduction of a residents' only parking scheme on Harlington Road, Hillingdon.

2.    asked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Councillor David Yarrow attended the meeting and spoke as a Ward Councillor in support of the petition. 

Concerns and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

·         The current parking provision outside the shops was split by a pedestrian crossing and comprised four spaces outside eight shops (including Coopers and Lords Associates) and five spaces outside the other four shops;

·         It was suggested that the estate agents had at least 12 members of staff who all had vehicles that were regularly parked in the spaces outside the shops, thus preventing customers from parking there;

·         The estate agent staff seemed to know when parking enforcement officers were in the area and went out to move their vehicles before they were ticketed.  If they did not get out to their cars quickly enough, they often spoke with the parking enforcement officer who let them buy a ticket from the machine rather than issuing them with a penalty charge notice;

·         The parking spaces were supposed to be for customers using the shops rather than for the staff.  It was suggested that a two hour parking limit would be sufficient for those customers using the laundrette and the hairdressers but that a 'no return within 6 hours' needed to be implemented to resolve the parking issues;

·         Intensive parking enforcement had been undertaken for a week and then the same cars had returned when the frequency reduced;

·         It was noted that the staff from Aaron James never parked in front of the shops and parked their vehicles elsewhere;

·         The petition organiser had parked his motorbike in front of the shops and ithad been moved.  When he approached the staff in one of the estate agencies and asked them whether they had moved it (as one of their vehicles was in the space that the motorbike had been parked in), he had been accused of being racist; and

·         It was suggested that the stop and shop parking facility for the parade was being abused by two or three of the shop owners who treated it as their personal fiefdom.

Councillor Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioners and responded to the points raised.  He noted that all businesses and households would need to be consulted on any proposed changes to the stop and shop scheme.  However, each business would only be permitted to submit one consultation response.  The Cabinet Member agreed to add the request to the Council's parking programme for further informal consultation but that the options should be agreed between himself and the Ward Councillors before consulting with local businesses and residents.

Councillor Burrows asked officers to speak to parking enforcement to tighten up on their procedures to ensure that there was a zero tolerance approach to parking breaches. 

RESOLVED:  Meeting with the petitioners, the Cabinet Member:

1.      listened to their request to amend the existing "Stop and Shop" parking scheme to prevent motorists from returning to the parking bays within six hours of departing. 

2.      asked officers to add the request to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Councillor Ray Graham attended the meeting and spoke as a Ward Councillor in support of the petition. 

Concerns and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

·         The report indicated the history of parking concerns expressed by residents who felt that the situation had changed since 2014;

·         The majority of vehicles that parked in the road were regularly those of staff who worked in Manor Parade, Bishopshalt School, Heathrow Airport or Brunel University;

·         The volume of vehicles parked significantly restricted access in Cedars Drive and reduced visibility for residents trying to get out of their driveways which was dangerous for cyclists;

·         Some vehicles driving along Cedars Drive did not appear to adhere to the speed limit;

·         The vision of drivers travelling south on Vine Lane and turning into Cedars Drive was restricted by vehicles parked adjacent to the south border of 46 Vine Lane which caused additional congestion from delays in exiting Vine Lane;

·         There had been incidents where vehicles had been unable to pass cars that were parked on Cedars Drive and one ambulance was seen having to drive over a pavement and grass area to continue its journey.  Access for emergency vehicles was an issue;

·         Refuse collection vehicles had experienced difficulties accessing the road and had put advisory notices on some vehicles' windscreens;

·         The implementation of a residents parking scheme in Chetwynd Drive had since caused parking to be displaced into the surrounding roads; and

·         The petition organiser advised that he thought it would be preferable to have a residents' only parking scheme that was operational during the working hours of the working week.

Councillor Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioners and responded to the points raised.  He recognised that there appeared to be a change of feeling amongst residents with regard to the implementation of a parking scheme as a result of the vehicle displacement.  The photographs that had been provided by the petition organiser illustrated the issues that were being regularly faced by residents.  The Cabinet Member was shocked by the photographs of the ambulance and the possible implications of such delays for an emergency vehicle. 

Councillors Burrows advised that officers would be asked to consult with all residents in the area on the options that were available and noted that waiting restrictions would affect all residents if implemented.  He advised that, when the informal consultation was circulated, it was important that as many households responded as possible to provide a clear representation of residents' feelings.  Officers would be available to respond to any queries that residents might have about the process.  It was anticipated that the informal consultation was likely to take place in late spring/early summer at the earliest.

RESOLVED:  Meeting with the petitioners, the Cabinet Member:

1.    discussed with petitioners their concerns with parking in Cedars Drive, Attle Close, Mills Close and Bishops Close, Hillingdon.

2.    noted the results of the previous consultation with residents of the area on a possible Parking Management Scheme.

3.    asked officers to add the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.