Agenda item

Concerns, comments and suggestions raised by the petition organiser at the meeting included the following:

·         In the 42 years that they had lived in the address, parking had become horrendous in the past 10 years

·         As homes were being sold and bought, large houses were being converted into flats resulting in an increased number of people requiring parking

·         There was a church and four local businesses in the area, which also contributed to the parking problems.  Although the church had a very small car park, as it was so well attended, visitors tended to spill over into Fulham Close to park  

·         Coupled with the parking requirement of the local businesses and the church, it had become impossible to residents to even park at the weekends from Saturday mornings right through to Sunday afternoons

·         Residents found it impossible to park in evenings and even more stressful for those working shifts, some of whom having finished work at 11pm, would always have difficulty in trying to find somewhere to park

·         Residents were particularly concerned about the safety issues caused by cars parked on both sides of the road and feared that emergency vehicles would inevitably be hindered from gaining access into the road

·         This concern came into fruition recently following the sad death of a resident where the ambulance could not gain access into the road, as a result of the way vehicles were parked

·         Gravely concerned about fire engines also being prevented from gaining access in the event of a fire and advised that inevitably, refuse lorries regularly struggled to gain access into the road

·         Further concerned about the safety of pedestrians often forced to walk into the road as a result of cars parked on the pavements. In addition, anxious about the huge risk of an accident happening with there also being a blind spot as cars turned from the Uxbridge Road at high speed into Fulham Close

·         The problem was further compounded by Fulham Close being used to access garages which did not belong to properties in the road. The garages appeared to be regularly accessed by scrap dealers and there had been occasions when lorries reversing into the garages had collided with parked cars

·         Petitioners informed that a transit van was regularly left parked by the gates and a car had remained abandoned in the road for over 4 months, even though this had been reported to the Council.

Councillor Roy Chamdal attended as a Ward Councillor in support of the petitioners. The following concerns and suggestions were raised:

·         Advised that he had seen the issues raised by petitioners first hand and noted that at the weekend, people attending the church had parked in Fulham Close

·         Highlighted that the garages were at an angle between two houses and  with cars parked on both sides, acknowledge that the issue of emergency vehicles gaining access into the road was of grave concern

·         The parking problem had resulted in creating safety issues for pedestrians, as parking on both sides of the pavements left little or no space for them to use

·         Had observed however, that some properties benefited from drop-down kerbs, which slightly alleviated the problem.

The Cabinet Member, Councillor Keith Burrows listened to the concerns and responded to the points raised.

Councillor Burrows acknowledged that with a speed limit of 40mph on the Uxbridge Road, this created a problem for cars travelling at that speed when turning into Fulham Close and as such, was an issue of concern, which he suggested would contribute to the problem of safety.

Given the grave concern about safety issues, the Cabinet Member amended the second recommendation and requested that this issue be discussed and agreed as a matter of urgency.

Councillor Burrows added a further recommendation instructing officers to investigate the concerns raised about the garages and other issues highlighted by the petitioners.

That the Cabinet Member:

1.      Met and discussed with petitioners their concerns with parking in             Fulham Close, Hillingdon.

2.      Subject to the outcome of the above, asked officers to add the request to the Council’s extensive parking programme for further investigation, to be discussed with the Cabinet Member as a matter of urgency.

3.      Instructed officers to investigate further issues of concern raised by        petitioners regarding emergency vehicle access, access to the       garages and query regarding the abandoned vehicle.

Reasons for recommendation

The petition hearing will provide a valuable opportunity to hear directly from the petitioners of their concerns and suggestions. 

Alternative options considered/risk management

None at this stage.