Agenda item

The Cabinet Member considered a petition from residents regarding parking at St Anselm’s Road disabled car park. The lead petitioner made the following points:

• Residents were suffering from large amounts of noise, particularly loud music coming from the car park.
• Further to these reports of loud music, anti-social behaviour in this area was a major concern.
• There were many reports of cars obstructing residents’ driveways. There were also problems with parked vehicles obstructing access not only for residents, but also the emergency services, disability transport and elderly residents.
• The main aim for the Lead Petitioner and co-petitioners was to have what they referred to as ‘the temporary disabled parking scheme’ now in place to be reinstated to the former layout in order to address these aforementioned concerns.

Officers added that, unfortunately for the Lead Petitioner and those present at the hearing in support, the Ward Councillors and other affiliated community stakeholders were consulted and were broadly in support of the arrangements currently in place, as detailed in paragraph 16 of the officer report.

The Cabinet Member, after acknowledging the points made by the Lead Petitioner and officers, invited John McDonnell, the Right Honourable Member of Parliament for Hayes & Harlington to speak on this matter, who informed the hearing that:

• He had been in long-term correspondence with his constituents regarding this situation.
• Echoed the Lead Petitioner’s statement that cars had been parking illegally on other people’s driveways, and also obstructing access for emergency vehicles (which there was an incident of recently).
• The local residents were finding life extremely hard as a result of the changes to the scheme and therefore disputed the views of stakeholders provided in paragraph 16 of the officer report.
• Primary concern is the safety of the residents involved, particularly in regard to the reports of anti-social behaviour.
• Desired a somewhat holistic approach to resolving these issues and would like to see a Council-led discussion with various affiliated parties on how this can be achieved.

The Cabinet Member expressed their gratitude for the Member of Parliament for Hayes & Harlington’s remarks on the matter and invited two co-petitioners to have their say on the predicament, who:

·         in reference to the parking debate, echoed the concerns over emergency vehicle access and also disabled residents, noting problems when parking for use of nearby medical practises.

·         Mentioned that there had been serious abuse towards residents from those using the parking facilities.

·         Further to earlier discussions surrounding reports of concerning anti-social behaviour, the residents informed the Cabinet Member that these issues had been previously raised with the police.

The Cabinet Member expressed the view that the primary concerns being raised by petitioners and others in their testimonies appeared to be matters of anti-social behaviour, and so it may clearly be beneficial for these aspects to be considered in context of the parking arrangements, rather than the issues in isolation.

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Member for Property, Highways and Transport:

1)    Met with petitioners and listened to their request for the Council to revert the parking at St. Anselm’s Road to a disabled car park;

2)    Noted that the current layout provides a generous allocation of both disabled and Pay & Display parking along with improved direct access from the high street rather than a convoluted route through nearby residential streets;

3)    Noted the informal and statutory consultation already undertaken by the Council and the positive feedback received as part of this;

4)    Noted the views of a local Ward Councillor, the Parish Priest and a member of the local business community, each referenced in the body of the report;

5)    Noted the high levels of parking enforcement activity described in the body of the report;

6)    Asked the Council’s Anti-Social Behaviour Team, in consultation with the police and the relevant Cabinet Member, to explore options to address the wider community concerns raised by petitioners, and to update the lead petitioner and MP accordingly; and

7)    subject to the outcome of the above, instructed officers to review the parking and access arrangements in St. Anselm’s Road in context with item (6) and report back to him.

Reasons for recommendations:

The Petition Hearing provided a valuable opportunity to hear directly from the petitioners of their concerns and suggestions.

Alternative options considered / risk management:

None at this stage.