Agenda item

Councillors Lynn Allen and Peter Curling attended the meeting and spoke as Ward Councillors.

Concerns and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

• The petition objected to the proposed extension to the Hayes HY1 Parking Management Scheme in its present form
• That residents of Austin Road and Silverdale Road would park their vehicles in Little Road due to the lack of off street parking available on both these roads.
• Concerns about the continuous bay layout proposed and the anxiety that having parking spaces which ran adjacent to the rear of the numbered properties in Little Road could encourage anti-social behaviour and provide an opportunity for intruders to access their properties.
• The restrictions along this kerb-line were said by petitioners to have originally been installed to provide access to the rear of these properties if required by the Fire Brigade
• There were currently six car parks in close proximity to Little Road – in particular underground car parks beneath properties in Austin Road - which were not currently utilised. The petitioner requested these be opened up to assist with the problem of displaced parking.
• Little Road suffered from commuter traffic to Hayes Town and commuters who used the road to park before using the train station
• Residents would prefer Little Road to have its own independent scheme with longer hours of operation. Ideally this scheme would be a combination of the HY1 and HY3 schemes.
• A further proposal from the petitioner included opening up full vehicular access to Silverdale Road from Little Road, although the petitioner accepted that this was outside the scope of the petition.

Councillor Burrows listed to the concerns of the petitioner and responded to the points raised:

Cllr Burrows recalled that a previous petition had been considered at a petition hearing in October 2009, similarly requesting a residents’ parking scheme only for the residents of Little Road. At the time, it was pointed out that one road in isolation would not be considered for a Parking Management Scheme as it was likely the problem would transfer into neighbouring roads. As a result, it was decided that neighbouring roads which may also suffer with all day non-residential parking, would be included in a subsequent consultation. 

This resulted in a proposal to extend “Zone HY1” of the Hayes Parking Management Scheme incorporating Austin Road, Blyth Road, Clarendon Road, Clayton Road, Little Road and Silverdale Road. Statutory consultation was held between 25^th May - 15^th June 2011 and a number of responses were received, including the petition being presently considered from residents of Little Road specifically objecting to the proposed scheme being extended to Austin Road and Silverdale Road as well as Little Road.

Cllr Burrows explained that in order for the rest of the scheme in Blyth Road, Clarendon Road and Clayton Road not to be delayed, the responses to the consultation from these roads would need to be included in a separate report to him which would be considered at a later stage. On this basis, officers had recommended the proposals for Austin Road, Little Road and Silverdale Road be deferred until residents of Little Road had had the opportunity to discuss in detail their concerns. Having considered the views of the petitioner and Ward Councillors the following decisions were made:

Resolved –

That the Cabinet Member:

1.         Discusses with petitioners and listens to their concerns regarding the proposed parking scheme in their road.

2.         Asks officers to include the petition request and the outcome of discussions with petitioners in the forthcoming report incorporating all representations received from statutory consultation on the proposed Parking Management Scheme in Austin Road, Little Road and Silverdale Road.

3.         Instructs officers to speak with Housing about the current derelict car park referred to by residents and look at the feasibility of opening this car park for use during the daytime operating hours of the scheme.