Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED: That all items be considered in public. 

The Lead Petitioner and Ward Councillors for this item did not attend the meeting although they had been invited.

Councillor Keith Burrows asked that Ward Councillors be contacted to ask for their views on the recommendations detailed in the report before he made any decision on the request. 

Councillor Philip Corthorne attended the meeting and spoke as a Ward Councillor in support of the experimental traffic order but expressing some sympathy to the view of the petitioners. 

Concerns and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

• There had been a number of complaints regarding the experimental traffic order on King Edwards Road which had reduced parking on King Edwards Road for patients and doctors of the Medical Centre
• Many of the patients who visited the Medical Centre were elderly and had limited mobility but did not qualify for a Blue Badge so a lack of parking close to the Medical Centre caused them problems
• The Lead Petitioner had not appreciated that Blue Badge holders could park on yellow lines
• The Medical Centre had 3,200 patients, 170 doctor appointments and 40 nurse appointments a week, which generated a lot of car traffic to the Centre
• An option could be to have no waiting restrictions on one side of King Edwards Road to facilitate parking for visitors to the Medical Centre
• Another option could be to have limited waiting restrictions which would not block the road at all times
• The Ward Councillor suggested that consideration could be given to the creation of 3 or 4 parking bays for the Medical Centre

Councillor Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioner and responded to the points raised. Councillor Burrows reported that he had received a number of letters from residents of King Edwards Road who supported the retention of the waiting restrictions. 

Councillor Burrows referred to the consultation prior to the introduction of the Experimental Traffic Order, where there had been no response to the proposals for waiting restrictions from the Medical Centre. The consultation results had indicated support for Monday – Saturday, 8am-6.30pm waiting restrictions on both sides of King Edwards Road and ‘At any time’ waiting restrictions on the junction with Church Avenue.

Councillor Burrows agreed that a compromise solution could be found to accommodate parking close to the Medical Centre and asked that officers have a sympathetic look at the issues in consultation with Ward Councillors.

RESOLVED:  That the Cabinet Member:

1. met with the petitioner and discussed in greater detail their concerns regarding the waiting restrictions introduced on a section of King Edwards Road under an Experimental Traffic Order.

2.   asks officers to investigate options to possibly modify the waiting restrictions and report back to the Cabinet Member for Planning, Transportation & Recycling and Ward Councillors, to enable a final decision to be made. 

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION

To investigate the petitioners’ concerns in further detail.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED

To investigate the petitioners’ concerns in further detail.

Councillor John Hensley 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 new “Stop & Shop” parking scheme in Ickenham had displaced cars into the residential areas of Eleanor Grove, Rectory Way and adjacent roads
• The roads were close to Ickenham Underground Station which was used by commuters into London. They used the roads for long term parking
• The roads were also being used by people who worked in local shops and businesses 
• The roads were narrow and the parking of vehicles on both sides of the road caused difficulties for local residents in terms of accessing their drives and garages and also caused access problems for the emergency services

Councillor Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioners and responded to the points raised. He also noted the photographs which the lead petitioner had presented to him which highlighted the problems of parking in the area. 

Councillor Burrows informed the petitioners that he had received letters from residents in the area, one of which was objecting to any proposals for a resident’s only parking scheme. Councillor Burrows advised that if approval was given to a parking scheme in the aforementioned roads, there could be a resultant knock on effect of transferring commuter and other parking into other nearby roads.

RESOLVED:  That the Cabinet Member:

1. discussed with petitioners and listened to their request for a residents only parking scheme.

2. adds the request for a residents only parking scheme in Eleanor Grove, Rectory Way and adjacent roads to the Council’s Parking Programme.

3. asks officers to liaise with local Ward Councillors to agree a viable consultation area for a possible area wide Parking Management Scheme.

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION

Residents have made a request for a residents only parking scheme in Eleanor Grove, Rectory Way and other roads in the surrounding area and inclusion on the parking programme will allow subsequent consultation with all residents within the area.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED

None as the Council will be guided by the views of the residents resulting from subsequent consultation.

At the request of the petitioners, consideration of this petition was deferred to a future meeting.