Surrey’s two-yearly parking review proposal for Weybridge is planned to be advertised this August. We’ll send out another notice when we get the date. Apart from a minor permit change in one scheme, all the proposals bar one is recommended because of safety. The exception is the proposal for Wey Road which some people say is a solution looking for a problem.
When the proposals are advertised you will be able to offer your comments, objections or support for any of the schemes. You do not have to live in the street concerned. The Weybridge streets with changes are:
Anderson Road. Allow additional properties to be eligible to apply for permits with the parking scheme 142 Oatlands Drive and 120 Oatlands Drive
Barham Close
Castle Road

Cedar Grove

Churchill Drive

Cross Road. Allow additional properties to be eligible to apply for permits with the parking scheme 142 Oatlands Drive and 120 Oatlands Drive

Drynham Park

Egerton Road

Fortescue Road

Kemble Close

Oatlands Chase

Oatlands Drive

Park Lawn Road. The restrictions being “revocated” (zigzag lines on the map) which are “No parking for certain periods” are being replaced by “No parking at any time”.

Parkway

Pennington Drive

Radnor Road

Ronneby Close

Rosslyn Park

Round Oak Road – see Wey Road
Rylands Place

St George’s Avenue

St Mary’s Road

The Paddocks

Vale Court. Allow additional properties to be eligible to apply for permits with the parking scheme 142 Oatlands Drive and 120 Oatlands Drive
Vale Road

Wey Road


The history.
The parking engineers do not believe that comprehensive parking controls are required for Wey Road and Round Oak Road.
The reason is quite simple, parking controls are introduced to meet concerns about the four main criteria:
- Safety
- Access
- Congestion
- Parking stress
Even a casual observer would recognise that Wey Road in does not fall into any of these criteria (except at the entrances which were dealt with already).
However, a petition was submitted by Michael O’Sullivan of Wey Road to the
5 December 2019 committee:
Expand further, as part of its 2019/20 Elmbridge Parking Review, the existing Controlled Parking Zone presently covering Elmgrove Road and Oakdale Road in Weybridge (and soon also to encompass Dorchester Road and Gascoigne Road) to include Wey Road and Round Oak Road.
The petition raised 64 signatures. Surrey does not verify the petitioners’ location.
Surrey parking professionals replied.
The existing parking scheme in Elmgrove Road and Oakdale Road, which will also be introduced shortly in Dorchester Road and Gascoigne Road is not technically a controlled parking zone, but a resident permit parking scheme. It is the county council’s policy to introduce resident permit parking controls in roads where residents with insufficient off street parking face undue competition from non-residents for the existing on-street parking space, which is the case in these four roads, but is not the case in Wey Road and Round Oak Road. Therefore to extend the scheme would not be appropriate. In the additional details supplied by the petition creator, there is a suggestion of introducing some sort of short stay parking in Wey Road and Round Oak Road, although the details are not clear. However it is generally considered that the type of parking most lacking in Weybridge is free long term parking (for employees working in local businesses and shops, for example), not short stay parking, of which plenty is already provided for free on the High Street and in other surrounding roads, as well as the various off street car parks in the town. So it is not necessary to introduce more short term parking in these two roads.
The possibility of introducing new parking controls or restrictions in Wey Road and Round Oak Road, and in other roads in the area, or changing existing controls, may be considered as part of the next parking review. This will provide sufficient time to allow for the new parking controls in Dorchester Road and Gascoigne Road to be implemented, and for the impacts of them to be assessed, before making any decisions about the introduction of any more parking controls in the area.
In response Mike O’Sullivan told the Surrey Local Committee that between 750 and 1000 commuter vehicles park in Weybridge each year The town needs long stay parking, but not at the expense of short term parking and inconvenience for residents. He is not requesting a resident only parking scheme and wants to make space available for short term parking for those wanting to access the town for shopping or business.
Mike O’Sullivan’s estimate of how many commuters arrive in the town centre might even be an underestimate but as many residents drive outside of Weybridge in the morning. The net requirement could be negative. Initial surveys suggest that for all we know more people could leave central Weybridge than enter).
Committee Decision
The Surrey Local Committee decided that the Parking Strategy and Implementation Manager to consider and agree the details of parking restrictions in Wey Road and Round Oak Road to be added to the 2019/20 parking review, in consultation with the divisional member and Local Committee Chairman.
Professionals‘ proposal
As the committee asked the parking professionals to come up with a special scheme they naturally did so.
Introduce a controlled parking zone covering Wey Road and Round Oak Road, operating Monday-Saturday 9am-7pm. Introduce DYLs (No Waiting At Any Time) and singe yellow lines and double yellow lines to prevent obstructive parking. Introduce parking bays – ‘Monday-Saturday 9am-7pm permit holders or 3hrs no return to zone’ ~ 27 spaces. This will allow permit holders (i.e. residents) to park in these bays for an unlimited amount of time, and anyone else to park for up to three hours for free. Introduce parking bays – ‘Monday-Saturday 9am-7pm 3hrs or pay by phone for longer stay’ ~ 63 spaces. This will allow anyone to park for up to three hours for free or pay a small fee to stay for longer, with a tariff of 50p/hr for the paid for period. An administration fee of 19p would apply to each transaction.
Road marking and signs
The controlled parking zone would require signs at the entry and exit points, and the parking bays would require upright signing. Key permit eligibility details (full details are listed in the draft TRO):
- Residents eligible to apply for all permit types are those occupying any residential address in Wey Road or Round Oak Road.
- The cost for a resident permit is £50pa for the first permit, and £75pa for any subsequent permits issued.
- The maximum number of resident permits issuable per place of abode is calculated by the number of vehicles registered to the property minus the number of off street spaces at the property.
- The maximum number of resident visitor permits issuable per place of abode per year is 120, at a cost of £2 per permit. Each permit lasts all day and is specific to the registration number of a visitor’s vehicle.
- Permit types available within this scheme are residents, visitors, carers and operational.
- There are no business permits.
Only one Weybridge Riverside councillors was permitted to speak. Cllr Ashley Tilling made a good speech but only a couple of other councillors raised concerns and those demonstrated their lack of understand the parking controls implementation process.
After a final roundup by Cllr Tim Oliver the committee decided the following.
That the Local Committee (Elmbridge) agreed that:
- The county council’s intention to introduce the proposal shown in Annex 1 (map above) is formally advertised, and subject to statutory consultation.
- If objections are received the Parking Strategy and Implementation Team Manager is authorised to try and resolve them;
iii. If any objections cannot be resolved, the Parking Strategy and Implementation Team Manager, in consultation with the Chairman/Vice Chairman of this committee and the county councillor for the division, decides whether or not they should be acceded to and therefore whether the order should be made, with or without modifications.
Reasons: To better manage parking demand in Wey Road and Round Oak Road, so as to improve access for short term parking for visitors to the Weybridge area, whilst maintaining parking as needed by residents and their visitors.