Agenda and draft minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

It was confirmed that the business of the meeting would take place in public.

The Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services considered a petition requesting revisions to the Car Park Charges for Ruislip Lido Main Car Park and Willow Lawn Car Park.

The lead petitioner was in attendance and addressed the Cabinet Member. Key points highlighted included:

• The aim of the petition was to request the closer alignment of charging times in both the Lido car parks to the restriction times in the RL2 zone;
• FOI data from Pay & Display machines indicated that revenue generated from both car parks from 1 April – 30 September 2023 was £249,000. Revenue generated in 2023 after 6pm for a complete year was £10,185;
• Visitors were using resident permit bays to avoid parking fees, causing inconvenience to residents. Residents who paid for permits could not park when returning from work after 6pm. Visitors parked in RL2 until late in the evening causing noise and ASB issues. LBH had created a volatile situation of conflict between residents and visitors;
• Extending restriction times might not be feasible due to lack of enforcement, additional costs and the complexity of obtaining online visitor permits;
• The proposed solution was to more closely align car parks charging periods with resident zones times. Free parking after 6pm would encourage visitors to use car parks rather than resident bays;
• The vehicle pound remained non-operational due to a design fault, resulting in £49k of wasted taxpayer money. This should be made operational to contribute to Council revenue funds;
• Over 80 spaces were currently generating no revenue. Each space was worth over £1k a year – reassigning some back into visitor use could offset lost revenue;
• The matter should have been intelligently intervened rather than coming to a hearing. The misalignment reflected a lack of common sense in policy implementation. The large increase in parking fees in recent years had contributed to the problem;
• The Council was requested to change car park charging periods so that parking was free after 6pm to encourage Lido visitors to use the car parks and not to park in residential streets, enforce parking rules more effectively and explore alternative revenue streams to offset any loss.

A handout on the History of Ruislip Lido parking was provided to the Cabinet Member and officers.

Ward Councillor Philip Corthorne was in attendance and addressed the Cabinet Member in support of petitioners. Councillor Corthorne noted that the busy roads around the Lido during peak periods created a unique situation in terms of parking stress. A standard parking management scheme (PMS) was in operation around the site but enforcement officers only attended once or twice a day and not at all during the evenings.

Vehicle movements at the Lido were weather-driven and did not respect the PMS hours of operation. Councillor Corthorne confirmed that residents often struggled to park due to the large number of visitors to the Lido. A bespoke system was required or, at the very least, an alignment of the Lido car parking times with those of the PMS.

Ward Councillor John Riley was also  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

The Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services, Councillor Eddie Lavery, considered a petition requesting the Installation of a Hedgerow at Uxbridge Common.

The lead petitioner was in attendance and addressed the Cabinet Member. Key points highlighted included:

·       Park Road was a busy, polluting road;

·       A number of dogs had been killed whilst being walked on Uxbridge Common due to slipping their leads or chasing balls / foxes etc across Park Road;

·       A hedge was already in situ along the boundary with North Common Road;

·       An application to the Council’s Chrysalis Fund requesting a barrier had been refused. Residents had also written to officers in the Green Spaces Team asking the Council to support their project;

·       Volunteers could be requested to assist with the planting of the requested hedge;

·       The proposed hedge would serve as a useful physical barrier to protect Uxbridge Common from noise and pollution and to obscure the view of passing cars;

·       In summary, a fast-growing hedge of whips using volunteers or mechanical planting was proposed on Uxbridge Common along Park Road.

Stuart Hunt, Head of Green Spaces, was in attendance and addressed the Cabinet Member. He confirmed that the hedge along North Common Road as referred to by petitioners was a natural gorse / bramble hedge rather than a hedge which had been installed by the Council.

In response to requests for clarification from the Cabinet Member, it was confirmed that, should the Council opt to plant the requested hedge, a fence would be required to enable the hedge to become established. This was standard practice, and said fence could be removed at a later date.

The Cabinet Member observed that there was also a large, enclosed space on the other side of the road at Hillingdon House Farm which could potentially be used for dog walking.

Councillor Lavery acknowledged residents’ concerns and agreed to visit the area with officers on foot prior to reaching a final decision on the matter. It was agreed that, further to said visit, a final decision would be communicated to the petitioners.

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services:  

• Met with petitioners and listened to their request to install a hedge at Uxbridge Common to prevent access to Park Road; and

• Agreed to visit the site in question on foot to enable him to make a final decision as to whether or not to instruct officers to install the hedge as requested by the petitioners.