Agenda item

The Cabinet Member considered a petition from residents requesting the induction of a residents' parking scheme on Kingston Lane, West Drayton. A representative from the petition was in attendance, referred the Cabinet Member and officers to a number of photographs and made the following points: 

·         Vehicles were regularly damaged due to cars and large vehicles trying to access the tight road.

·         There had recently been an incident where the fire service was unable to access a property due to cars being parked on both side of the road.  As a consequence the fire officers had to unload the equipment from the vehicle to attend the incident.

·         Concerns were made about the way people parked their vehicles in dangerous ways often inappropriately on the road corner restricting visibility.

·         Residents had difficulties parking their vehicles due to the lack of space and driveways were often difficult to access due to inconsiderate parking. 

·         During school peak times, the situation was worse as there was less available parking for residents and a high number of vehicles trying to use the road at one time.

·         People also used the area to park their cars and leave it for weeks whilst they went abroad as there was easy access to Heathrow Airport.

·         9am – 9pm 7 days a week parking restrictions were requested.

·         There was also a knock on effect on the residents of Kingston Lane as a result of parking management schemes in other nearby roads.

·         Kingston Lane was in  close vicinity of West Drayton station and the road was used often used by commuters as there were no restrictions.

Councillor Jan Sweeting attended the meeting and spoke as Ward Councillor in support of the petition. Councillor Sweeting supported all the points raised by the petitioner and added that parking management schemes in nearby roads had increased parking issues on Kingston Lane. There was also a lack of available resident parking due to the road being used by residents of nearby developments where there was limited parking. Although it was suggested that in addition to Kingston Lane, Holly Gardens and Hawthorne Crescent could form part of the consultation, it was noted that this would delay the consultation for Kingston Lane.

Councillor Burrows listened to the concerns of the petition organiser and was sympathetic to the issues raised. Councillor Burrows confirmed that other nearby roads could be added part of the consultation, however there had been no petitions or representations from any of the residents on the other roads. If these roads were added, this may cause delay to the Kingston Lane’s consultation. He urged the residents to all take part in the consultation once it had been issued to ensure that there were enough responses as possible.

RESOLVED:

Meeting with the Petitioners, the Cabinet Member for Planning and Transportation:

1.    Listened to their request for the introduction of a residents' parking permit scheme for Kingston Lane, West Drayton

2.    Asked officers to add the request to the Council's parking programme for further informal consultation on options to manage parking in Kingston Lane.

3.    Instructed officers to contact emergency services and refuse services in relation to any issues on gaining access to the properties in Kingston Lane, West Drayton and report back the findings to the Cabinet Member for Planning and Transportation.

Reasons for decisions

The petition hearing allowed the Cabinet Member to discuss with petitioners their concerns and add their request to the parking schemes programme.

Alternative options considered / risk management

These were discussed with petitioners.