Agenda item

Councillor Peter Curling attended the meeting and spoke in support of petitioners as a Ward Councillor.

Concerns and suggestions from the petitioners included the following:

• The parking problem was a result of heavy congestion caused by members of the public using free parking in the estate.
• Due to lack of space, residents had incurred fines from parking in restricted areas.
• Business owners and commuters regularly parked in this residential area, and when challenged said that they would continue to do so as they were doing nothing illegal.
• One petitioner, a resident of Austin Road, paid for parking in the nearby garages. However, he was sometimes unable to access these due to the volume of cars parked on the street.
• Changes to parking restrictions on nearby streets had had a knock-on effect on Austin Road, and residents were concerned that Crossrail would have further implications.
• Access for emergency services vehicles was becoming problematic.
• Residents reported having had to wait 1 and a half hours to find a parking space. This problem was exacerbated when returning with children from school.
• The street was also used by an individual to park several cars which they were selling online.
• There were many empty spaces in garages which petitioners believed could be made available to residents in order to ease the parking problem. However, some spaces remained empty due to a leaking roof causing damage to car paintwork.
• Petitioners did not believe a solution would be expensive, and simply suggested resident parking permits.

Councillor Curling attended the meeting and spoke in support of residents:

• He knew from experience that Austin Road was a difficult street to drive down, and agreed particularly with the point that emergency services vehicles found access problematic.
• He believed that residents were suffering inconvenience due to the close proximity of the road to train stations and local shopping.

Councillor Burrows believed that these problems were likely a product of good transport links to Hayes and Harlington station, central London, Hayes Town centre and Heathrow airport.

This was a highly built-up area and there was likely to be pressure on parking simply due to the density of housing.

Officers were asked to add Austin Road, and potentially streets in the surrounding area, to the parking management scheme programme for further investigation, and if possible expedite the investigation as a priority. In 2011, a consultation had been undertaken to which only 13 of 135 questionnaires were returned from Austin Road and 19 of 121 from Silverdale Road. However, Council Burrows noted that the situation had changed since then and might now elicit a different response from residents. Councillor Burrows stated that parking restrictions would only be implemented if responses to a consultation indicated support for it. The onus was now on residents to ensure that they responded when the consultation is undertaken

On the related issue of the number of parking bays empty in the garage, Councillor Burrows suggested that Councillor Curling submitted a Member's enquiry to find out the number of bays in use, and the overall number habitable.

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Member:

1.    Met with the petitioners and listened to their request for a Parking Management Scheme to be introduced in Austin Road, Hayes and the surrounding area.

2.    Asked officers to add Austin Road and the surrounding area to the Council’s future parking scheme programme for further investigation and more detailed consultation as soon as resources permit.