Agenda item

The Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services considered a petition requesting revisions to the Car Park Charges for Ruislip Lido Main Car Park and Willow Lawn Car Park.

The lead petitioner was in attendance and addressed the Cabinet Member. Key points highlighted included:

• The aim of the petition was to request the closer alignment of charging times in both the Lido car parks to the restriction times in the RL2 zone;
• FOI data from Pay & Display machines indicated that revenue generated from both car parks from 1 April – 30 September 2023 was £249,000. Revenue generated in 2023 after 6pm for a complete year was £10,185;
• Visitors were using resident permit bays to avoid parking fees, causing inconvenience to residents. Residents who paid for permits could not park when returning from work after 6pm. Visitors parked in RL2 until late in the evening causing noise and ASB issues. LBH had created a volatile situation of conflict between residents and visitors;
• Extending restriction times might not be feasible due to lack of enforcement, additional costs and the complexity of obtaining online visitor permits;
• The proposed solution was to more closely align car parks charging periods with resident zones times. Free parking after 6pm would encourage visitors to use car parks rather than resident bays;
• The vehicle pound remained non-operational due to a design fault, resulting in £49k of wasted taxpayer money. This should be made operational to contribute to Council revenue funds;
• Over 80 spaces were currently generating no revenue. Each space was worth over £1k a year – reassigning some back into visitor use could offset lost revenue;
• The matter should have been intelligently intervened rather than coming to a hearing. The misalignment reflected a lack of common sense in policy implementation. The large increase in parking fees in recent years had contributed to the problem;
• The Council was requested to change car park charging periods so that parking was free after 6pm to encourage Lido visitors to use the car parks and not to park in residential streets, enforce parking rules more effectively and explore alternative revenue streams to offset any loss.

A handout on the History of Ruislip Lido parking was provided to the Cabinet Member and officers.

Ward Councillor Philip Corthorne was in attendance and addressed the Cabinet Member in support of petitioners. Councillor Corthorne noted that the busy roads around the Lido during peak periods created a unique situation in terms of parking stress. A standard parking management scheme (PMS) was in operation around the site but enforcement officers only attended once or twice a day and not at all during the evenings.

Vehicle movements at the Lido were weather-driven and did not respect the PMS hours of operation. Councillor Corthorne confirmed that residents often struggled to park due to the large number of visitors to the Lido. A bespoke system was required or, at the very least, an alignment of the Lido car parking times with those of the PMS.

Ward Councillor John Riley was also in attendance and addressed the Cabinet Member in support of petitioners. Councillor Riley noted that there had been problems at the Lido for a long time related to parking and visitor behaviour. Wider improvements were required to address the issues of parking and antisocial behaviour in the area. It was reported that local residents dreaded the summer months. The Cabinet Member heard that better ways of dealing with an attraction such as the Lido in a residential area were essential.

In response to the Cabinet Member’s request for clarification, it was confirmed that the figures in the pack set out the transactions recorded after 6pm. It was not easy to separate out payments made prior to this time. It was noted that if this time were moved back, the net income loss would be higher than the figures quoted in the agenda pack, but this could not be quantified with precision.

With regards to the information referenced by petitioners relating to the history of Ruislip Lido Parking, the Cabinet Member noted that this could not be changed, and he could only consider the information before him at the present time.

The petitioners were informed that the weekend times when Breakspear car park could be used by residents had been expanded and additional spaces provided. The lead petitioner observed that there were only 125 spaces available at Breakspear at present, whereas there had been 175 available spaces when the car park had previously been open to the public. In response to this, the Cabinet Member confirmed that the number of spaces had increased year on year in 2024. The Lead Petitioner had not previously been aware of this change and asked for the relevant information to be sent to her.

The Cabinet Member asked officers to organise a 6-month trial period operating from 1 March 2025 with car park charging hours finishing at 7pm.

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services:  

1. Met with petitioners and listened to their request to introduce provisions for free parking in Ruislip Lido Main Car Park and Willow Lawn Car Park after 6pm; and

2. Asked officers to make arrangements for a trial period of 6 months of free parking after 7pm with effect from 1 March 2025. This would allow for data collection and evaluation of the benefits and any potential issues arising.