Agenda and minutes

Councillor Goddard declared a non-pecuniary interest in Agenda Item 4: Harefield Road, Uxbridge – Petition Requesting a 20mph Speed Limit and a “Slow Down” Sign as he lived in an adjoining road, and he remained in the room during the consideration thereof. 

RESOLVED:  That all items of business be considered in public.          

Councillor Martin Goddard attended the meeting and spoke as a Ward Councillor in support of the petition. 

Concerns and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

·         Clare House Nursing Home was situated on Harefield Road and received visitors of all ages who were struggling to cross the road due to the excessive speed of vehicles travelling down it.  Staff at Clare House had also mentioned that traffic consistently travelled too fast along the road;

·         One resident had parked their car on Harefield Road and had their wing mirror broken off by a passing vehicle because this driver had refused to wait for oncoming traffic to filter through the narrower parts of the road;

·         Cars would often park on the bend of the road on the hill which made it difficult for traffic to pass;

·         Concern was expressed that pedestrians took their lives in their own hands when they tried to cross the road to get to the bus stop;

·         The petition organiser had collected signatures during daylight hours in the winter which meant that many working residents had not had the opportunity to sign the petition;

·         Harefield Road stretched from the Oxford Road roundabout to the top of Park Road so people working in Uxbridge used it as a cut through;

·         The southern end of Harefield Road had residents’ parking which meant that the traffic had to slow down to dodge and weave between the parked cars.  However, the road then opened up to the north which resulted in vehicles speeding up to 40-50 mph before hitting significant congestion at the traffic lights;

·         It was noted that the yellow box junction at the traffic lights on the junction of Park Road and Harefield Road had all but worn away which meant that drivers were ignoring it and the traffic often got backed up; and

·         Drivers travelling along Harefield Road were behaving aggressively, particularly when coming away from Uxbridge, and action needed to be taken to address this.  It was thought that this was likely to worsen as a result of the work associated with HS2.

Councillor Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioners and responded to the points raised.  He advised that he knew the road really well.  The Cabinet Member advised that he would be unable to sanction a 20mph speed limit unless there was evidence to support this.  Alternatives to slow the traffic down might include speed cushions, raised tables or Vehicle Activated Signs (VAS).  He was mindful that emergency vehicles would also need to be able to access the road safely. 

It was agreed that traffic surveys be undertaken by an independent company 24/7 for a seven day period to identify the number, speed, type and time of vehicles travelling along Harefield Road.  The Cabinet Member advised that he would commission the survey when he next met with officers and that it would not be undertaken during school holidays.  The petition organiser and Councillor Goddard identified three places for the surveys to be located.  Following  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Councillor Alan Deville attended the meeting and spoke as a Ward Councillor in support of the petition. 

Concerns and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

·         Although Park View Road was not a long road, it did have a large area adjacent to the carriageway where residents parked.  However, over the last eighteen months, it had become increasingly difficult for resident to park in this area and drivers were also parking in the turning point in the access road which meant that drivers had to reverse out;

·         There were a number of houses in the area that were rented out with 2-6 cars belonging to each property;

·         Thirteen houses in the road did not have driveways;

·         Hillingdon Hospital staff, Heathrow staff, pupils at the nearby school and holidaymakers had been parking their cars in Park View Road which reduced the parking available to residents.  It was thought that hospital staff were issued with parking vouchers but that these were not sufficient to last the whole year.  One non-resident car had been parked in Park View Road for 6-7 weeks before it finally moved;

·         The parking management scheme in nearby roads had also displaced some vehicles into Park View Road;

·         One resident had been woken up at 2am one morning by a driver asking her to move her vehicle so that he could drive away;

·         Park View Road residents had been subjected to abuse when they had asked drivers to park considerately;

·         It was thought that emergency vehicles had experienced difficulties in accessing the road.  A car had been parked on the end of the road by the bus stop which had hindered access for emergency vehicles and buses;

·         The lack of available parking meant that older residents were not able to park near to their properties;

·         There had been instances where cars had parked on Park View Road and the occupants had been taking drugs.  There had also been an instances of fly tipping and drivers urinating in the road;

·         It was thought that airport parking had been parking vehicles in Park View Road which had meant that the builders on the site around the corner were now parking on the main Stockley Road.  This had then caused additional congestion; and

·         Residents had been told by the refuse collectors that they would not be able to collect their rubbish in future if they cannot get down the road.

Councillor Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioners and responded to the points raised.  He advised that an instance of airport parking elsewhere in the Borough had been resolved quickly with legal action by the Council. 

Although the Cabinet Member would be happy to consider the implementation of a parking management scheme, he advised that the programme was already large and continued to grow.  As such, it needed to be managed carefully and consideration would need to be given to how it might fit in with other issues. 

RESOLVED:  Meeting with the petitioners, the Cabinet Member for Planning, Transportation and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Concerns and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

·         It was suggested that the removal of grass verges in Cowley Crescent would increase the number of available parking spaces which would help to meet the increase in the demand for spaces created by residents in the road – many of the households had 2-3 cars each;

·         Petitioners disputed the claim that services might have to be moved as there were 27 crossovers in the road, none of which had needed the services moved beneath the surface;

·         It was noted that outside numbers 1 to 22, the pavement was half concrete and half grass.  It was thought that doing away with the grass and having hard standing would help address the issue of the overgrown hedges.  Petitioners asked if the Council was able to do something to get the hedges cut back as them being overgrown limited the available pavement space.  There were times when residents had to walk in the road as the pavement had become inaccessible and the road was a more stable surface to walk on than the grass verge and more able to accommodate a double pushchair;

·         The grass verges were often damaged by Council vehicles.  In addition, vehicles exiting a driveway in Cowley Crescent would have to drive over the grass if a car was parked opposite;

·         Three kerbstones had been re-laid badly outside of number 27 but there were no kerbstones outside of number 28.  The drains outside of number 24 had been worked on and the grass had been replaced with 30 metres of tarmac some years ago;

·         Petitioners requested that the footpath be resurfaced as dandelions were growing out of it and the surface was uneven;

·         Approximately 30 years ago, the Council had proposed to remove the grass verges and replace with hard standing but this idea had been rejected;

·         There was barely any grass on the outside circle; and

·         The lack of parking in the evenings was thought to predominantly be as a result of too many vehicles attributed to each of the households in the road.

Councillor Burrows, who was a Ward Councillor for this road, listened to the concerns of the petitioners and responded to the points raised.  He advised that, since he had been a Cabinet Member, he was unaware of the Council converting any grass verges to hard standing.  The retention of grass verges helped to increase surface water drainage and therefore prevented flooding. 

Consideration was given to the possibility of a parking management scheme that allowed residents only to park in the road up to 10pm.  Parking management schemes were being implemented in surrounding roads which could result in the displaced vehicles then parking in Cowley Crescent.  Other options included yellow lines down one side of the road to provide access and a parking management scheme with staggered bays to enable manoeuvrability. 

Councillor Burrows stressed the need for residents to complete and return the consultation document once it had been hand delivered to each household.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The petition organiser had advised that she would not be attending the meeting and that she would like the matter resolved as quickly as possible.  Although none of the Ward Councillors were present, Councillor Ian Edwards had emailed the Cabinet Member in advance of the meeting regarding the issues identified in the petition.

Councillor Burrows considered the information that he had available to him.  He decided that officers should be instructed to undertake further detailed investigations and report back to him.  Consideration could then be given to determining what further action should be undertaken. 

RESOLVED:  The Cabinet Member for Planning, Transportation and Recycling:

1.         considered petitioners’ request for the introduction of measures to prevent lorries from parking in Warrender Way, Ruislip;

2.         noted the investigations undertaken by the Council's Planning Enforcement Team; and

3.         asked officers to undertake further detailed investigations and report back to the Cabinet Member.

Reasons for recommendations

To allow the Cabinet Member to consider petitioners’ concerns and, if appropriate, add their request to the parking schemes programme.

Alternative options considered / risk management

None.