Controlled Parking Zone - consultation news

UPDATE January 2011: On-street Parking Charges Proposed

Surrey County Council has now proposed new Parking Controls for Weybridge, with on-street pay and display charges in some roads, and less restrictive controls in others

UPDATE March 2010: New Weybridge Parking Controls

Surrey County Council has now proposed new Amendments to Parking Control Orders, with specific restrictions in some roads in Weybridge North, which we believe are in place of a wider CPZ

UPDATE November 2009: Surrey letter to residents sets out parking actions

The Surrey County Council Parking Team wrote to some residents on 29 October 2009 to explain "actions Surrey County Council intend to undertake before reviewing the impact on parking levels in the area and then re-consulting on any proposals."
View the 29 Oct 2009 letter from the SCC Parking Team 

UPDATE 10 October 2009: Yellow lines in Portmore Park Road a mistake?

We understand from SCC councillor Ian Lake that the yellow lines being painted in Portmore Park Road have been placed wrongly, and should not extend so far along the road. This will come as a relief to those who were simply expecting some yellow lines close to the Balfour Road junction and by the end of Wey Road. Residents may be pleased to hear that Ian (who heads the Surrey County Council Transport Portfolio) has asked that the current work stops. We look forward to seeing the error corrected.

Findings from the North Weybridge CPZ consultation show nearly three quarters of all comments received were negative about the proposed controlled parking scheme. This is about the only finding we can report, following our 22 June 2009 meeting with the Surrey County Council parking team.  Unfortunately the limited questions in the survey make it difficult to know how many of the people who responded want no CPZ, and how many want a better CPZ.  Controlled parking is a very divisive issue, and we continue to believe that proper consultation is needed. We are awaiting a formal statement from Surrey on what will happen next. 

THE HISTORY: The draft Weybridge Parking Control plans caused a very strong reaction when the CPZ consultation arrived from Surrey County Council. The proposals were not what people expected. Reduced CPZ area and proposed no daytime waiting in Portmore Park Road were met with some dismay. But the consultation did not ask fundamental questions like 'do you want your road to be part if a CPZ?'.

An estimated 150-200 people attended a crowded drop-in session on 14 March with Surrey County Councillor Ian Lake, promoted by Portmore Park & District Residents Association.

Comments received by your local councillors

Elmbridge Ward Councillor for Weybridge North, Miles Macleod, was at the session and listened to the views of a large number of those who attended. And there were some very strong views.

Many people who had previously supported the idea were disappointed by the proposals, and disappointed by what seemed a lack of understanding of local needs by the Parking Team at Surrey County Council.

"Why have they ignored what we said?" was the question asked by several people. They felt very let down by the way the proposals fail to address local issues which residents and councillors had presented clearly to Surrey County Council.

Creating a dangerous rat run 

The most worrying aspect for many is the proposed 'no waiting' in Portmore Park Road. People foresee multiple negative effects:

- a serious impact on overall parking capacity, particularly affecting residents of Radnor Road and Glencoe Road

- major problems for school parking and pupil pick up, which depend on parking/waiting in this road

- encouraging rat run through-traffic to use this residential traffic-calmed road, changing the character of the area.

Portmore Park Road is a graceful residential road. At present the parked cars form natural traffic-calming. Local residents don't want to see it turned into something resembling a yellow-lined urban clearway.

The plan shows 'No Waiting - Agreed by Members' (which we understand to mean either Members of Surrey County Council, or of the SCC Local Committee of which Cllr Lake is deputy chairman) at the Wey Road end of Portmore Park Road. This also was a surprise.  Residents had understood that the restrictions would simply be the long-needed double yellow lines around the corners of Wey Road.

What about visitors and carers?

Arrangements for visitors were a major concern for many people at the drop-in session. The 'no daytime waiting' roads would pose a problem for residents with daytime visitors and limited or no off-street parking. The cost and availability of visitor permits was a bone of contention for people in roads where it is proposed to have parking bays.

There was great concern about problems that may be faced by people who depend on regular visits from carers. Cllr Macleod heard real worries about how carers for elderly people would be able to continue making their extended daily visits. Reassuringly, we understand that carers' permits will be available for housebound people. But there is no special provision planned for people with young families who depend on visits from grandparents. These are fundamental things which the parking scheme must address adequately.

Reduced scope and displacement

The reduced scope of the scheme came as a total surprise. Previous plans had shown a wider area for the CPZ, including much of Thames Street and the area around the dangerous junction with Grotto Road. The new plans stop at the Portmore Pillars. This was a cause of some serious concern for people in Thames Street and roads leading off it. They feel they will suffer from uncontrolled displacement parking. These roads are already greatly affected by school parking, and in need of better parking controls at least on the corners -- although several roads currently manage to fit in more cars by cooperative parking than would be allowed by CPZ restrictions.

Poorly designed consultation form

People wanted to give useful feedback about the impact of the scheme, and what is needed for their road. Many commented on the limitations of the feedback form. It asks the general question about whether people want 1, 2 or 3 hours waiting for other road users -- which is an important issue -- but does not ask about the parking needs of the individual residential roads in which people live, and how the plans might affect that. It takes up a lot space asking about about ethnicity, disability, gender and age.

Initial response from your councillors

This is the text of the email sent to the Surrey Parking Team by Cllr Miles Macleod on the day he saw a preview of the proposals:

From: Miles Macleod
Sent: 06 March 2009 18:06
To: 'Graham Cox'; 'Parking'
Cc: 'gdearlove@elmbridge.gov.uk'; 'sdodsworth@elmbridge.gov.uk'; 'tcrowther@elmbridge.gov.uk'; 'bcheyne@elmbridge.gov.uk'; 'roytaylor@elmbridge.gov.uk'; 'bwhite@elmbridge.gov.uk'; 'hammondp@parliament.uk'; 'darcher@elmbridge.gov.uk'; 'dorothy.mitchell@surreycc.gov.uk'; 'i.lake@surreycc.gov.uk'

Subject: RE: Proposed Weybridge North Controlled Parking Zone
 
Dear Graham
 
Thank you for sending information on the proposed Weybridge North CPZ and public consultation.  It is good to see consultation on this happening at last.  I appreciate your desire to ‘get things right’, and have some initial comments on the proposals and suggestions for additional consultees.
 
INITIAL COMMENTS
 
The introduction is informative, and the emphasis on eliciting preference for length of allowed parking is sensitive to local needs.
 
However, I was very surprised, on seeing the plans, at how different they are from the previously available drafts. I think they are at odds with the expectations of many local residents. And they are changed from the anticipated CPZ scope stated by SCC in replies to my questions to SCC Elmbridge Local Committee in December 2008.
 
SCOPE:
 
The reduced scope does not include Monument Green, any part of Thames Street, Grotto Road, Montrose Walk, Beales Lane or Jessamy Road.  As you will be aware from the detailed feedback on parking issues in Weybridge North provided to SCC in September 2008 by the EBC Elmbridge Parking Management Strategy Task Group, and from subsequent feedback from local residents through the Divisional councillor, these roads have significant parking issues.
 
RESTRICTIONS:
 
The proposed restrictions along Portmore Park Road look excessive and potentially damaging to the local community. Unless I have misread the plan, the proposal is to ban parking entirely from substantial sections of this road from 9am to 6pm.  This could be a great inconvenience to residents who currently park there, would have an impact on the local schools and church, and would encourage through traffic along this traffic-calmed suburban boulevard, where residents have quietly battled for years against being used as a rat-run.
 
CONSULTEES:
 
Schools:
St George’s College Junior School in Thames Street is missing from your list. This is an essential consultee. It is the largest school in the immediate area, with circa 600 pupils and around 58 staff, and has a big impact on the community. It has limited onsite parking and I understand that some twenty or more of the staff normally park on local roads (and would be directly affected by the CPZ). School drop-off parking is a major issue locally – as SCC Local Committee noted in a reply to me in June 2008 – and the Highway Authority, along with local residents and councillors, has been working with the school to help address this, including encouraging dropping off further from the school in roads such as Portmore Park Road (which your proposals would make more difficult).  Again, the parking issues around this school were reported to SCC by the Elmbridge Parking Management Strategy Task Group.
 
In contrast two schools on your list are not nearby: Manby Lodge Infant School is over half a mile away from the affected area, and Oatlands School (Infants) is a mile away.
 
Businesses:
There is some concern among local businesses about the impact of parking restrictions. It is essential to include them in the consultation. For example, a clinical practitioner on Monument Green contacted me because he is worried about the possible impact on patients.  He is reassured by the emphasis in the draft Parking Management Strategy on enabling short-term parking, but worried about potential expansion of ‘no waiting’ zones.  He has carried out a parking survey among his patients over the past three weeks, and would be happy to share the results of this.
 
I hope these comments are helpful, and look forward to the opportunity to discuss these issues further.
 
Kind regards
Miles Macleod
------------------------------
Miles Macleod
Ward Councillor for Weybridge North
3 Clinton Close, Thames Street
Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 8NU
Telephone:  01932 843596

School follow-up: On 11 March, Cllr Macleod attended a meeting with the headmaster of St George's College Junior School. An update on school parking confirmed the concerns outlined above.

The school numbers are now circa 640 pupils and 68 staff, and fewer than half the staff are able to park onsite.

There were strong concerns over the impact of proposed no-waiting:

"The main proposal that Portmore Park Road would become a ‘No Waiting Zone’ from 9.00am – 6.00pm (Monday – Saturday) would create enormous problems for afternoon pick–up at the Junior School, almost certainly displacing the parking towards Grotto Road."