Agenda item

The Cabinet Member considered a petition from residents requesting the introduction of a residents’ permit parking scheme, waiting restrictions, improvements to the area and the installation of CCTV cameras.  A representative from the petition was in attendance and made the following points:

• Tollgate Drive had seen an increase in anti-social behaviour over recent years, particularly along the stretch of the road which ran parallel to the canal. Since there were no parking restrictions on the stretch of road, people would come to the road to park and play loud music, often late into the night.
• Criminal activities such as illegal drug dealing and taking, fly tipping, theft of catalytic converters from cars, and violent and threatening behaviour were cited. Residents were feeling increasingly unsafe in their homes, with particular concern raised for the residents with young children.
• The petitioners thanked officers for their work so far in alleviating the issues raised, but noted that, in their opinion, some of the measures had been unsuccessful. Concerns were raised about the position and direction of the CCTV camera which had been installed, about the response times from emergency number displayed on public notices, and about negative impact some of the anti-fly tipping posters had been having. 

Councillor Jagjit Singh and Councillor Mohinder Birah attended the meeting as Ward Councillors and supported the petition and comments made by the petitioners. Both testified to their personal experience of issues raised by the petitioners.

Councillor Riley listened to the concerns of the petitioners and the ward councillors and responded to the points raised.  It was emphasised that the anti-social behaviour issues on Tollgate Drive were best answered with a multi-facetted approach, comprising enforcement action, parking measures and resident engagement. With regards to enforcement action, the importance of early reporting by residents was noted. It was asked of the petitioners that the dates of some of the specific incidents raised were shared with officers, and it was emphasised that sharing the number plates of any suspicious vehicles would allow issues to be followed up effectively. It was suggested that officers put the petitioners in contact with the Online Watch Link (OWL) coordinator, with a view to setting up more formal arrangements for reporting criminal activity on Tollgate Drive.

With regards to the parking measures for the road, it was agreed that implementing double yellow lines on the corner coming around towards the canal would be helpful. However, it was acknowledged that if the measure was not accompanied by a wider parking management scheme, it had the chance of moving the parking problems and anti-social behaviour further along the road. It was suggested that to accompany the double yellow lines, a scheme could be introduced which specified that only residents could park on the road past a certain point. The petitioners welcomed the suggestion and supported the possibility of it being developed and submitted for informal consultation by officers.

Resolved:

Meeting with the Petitioners, the Cabinet Member for Public Safety and Transport:

1. Met with petitioners and listened to their concerns over allegations of antisocial activities such as drug-taking and flying-tipping, as well as non-residential parking in Tollgate Drive;
2. Noted that the CCTV camera recently installed were regularly monitored;
3. Noted that, with regard to the allegations of anti-social behaviours such as drug-dealing, officers liaised and worked with the Police Partnership Tasking Team and Yeading Safer Neighbourhood Team to disrupt any identifiable activity.
4. Noted that, with regard to the reports of fly-tipping, CCTV footage will be reviewed for evidential purposes and arrangements made for rubbish to be removed.     
5. Noted the early engagement with petitioners by the Transport Team to seek to develop a viable option to partially address the concerns over parking, with some of the dialogue elaborated upon in the body of this report; and
6. Asked officers to add the parking request to the Council’s extensive Parking Management Scheme Programme for a possible informal consultation.