Agenda item

Concerns and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

·                     The petitioners believed the proposal to introduce parking charges in Harefield Village showed a lack of understanding of local issues.  The village had no bank or Post Office on the High Street and was not a shopping destination.  The High Street was often congested with deliveries and parallel parking, which the free car park had gone some way to address.  Shopkeepers had a tendency to park outside their shops, which prevented shoppers from parking there.

·                     Businesses were feeling the impact of HS2 and Brexit.  Costs were going up and shoppers were being put off spending.  If parking charges was introduced, shoppers would go elsewhere and businesses could close.

·                     The car park was ill-equipped.  There were no lights, which caused safety issues after dark, and Hillingdon First cards were not working on one of the pay machines in the car park which meant residents could not get their discount.

Councillor Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioners and responded to the points raised.  Officers advised that Harefield had been the beneficiary of improvements as part of a wider scheme to raise the attractiveness of the village, and would be monitored to see if any further improvements could be made.  £180,000 had already been invested.  Business had been asked to evaluate the improvements and 75% had rated the future of the village as 'promising' or 'very promising'. 

Councillor Burrows advised that the Council was obliged to bring the car park into use and to charge for parking in line with other car parks in the Borough.  The implementation of parking charges had been successful in other areas.  The Harefield car park would provide parking for shoppers, workers and people visiting the hospital which would not be available if the land was not used as a car park.  In line with all new parking schemes, the Harefield car park would be reviewed after twelve months.

RESOLVED: Meeting with the petitioners, the Cabinet Member for Planning, Transportation and Recycling:

1.     discussed with petitioners their concerns with the introduction of parking controls at Harefield House car park.

2.     acknowledged the conditions of the Section 106 agreement for the Harefield House/Cedar House redevelopment.  This included a clause that if the public car park was not provided within two years of the lease being agreed in November 2014 then it would be assigned back with no obligation to provide a public car park.

3.     recalled that, following statutory consultation, a formal decision was taken by the Cabinet Member in March 2016 to proceed with the introduction of Pay & Display parking in Harefield House car park.  The proposals were in line with the majority of car parks in the Borough, and as such a local Ward Councillor supported the proposals.

4.     Considered the information provided and circulated locally regarding parking charges within the 'HELP SAVE FREE PARKING IN HAREFIELD!!' flyer, causing unfortunate and unnecessary confusion for residents, many of whom wrongly assumed that the matter related to wider proposals beyond those for the car park alone.

5.     noted that, following investigations, correspondence was provided to the lead petitioner on 28 April 2016 by the Deputy Director of Planning, Transportation and Community Projects who was fully satisfied that the proper process had been followed throughout.

6.     reassured the petitioners that, in common with all new parking management arrangements, the scheme would be reviewed, usually after 12 months, to determine that the objectives of the scheme were being met.