Agenda item

This report advises the Committee of any petitions received by the Council which fall within the remit of this Committee including a summary of the response sent to the lead petitioners by officers.

Discussion:

The Committee received a report setting out a summary of petitions received by the Council which fell within the remit of this Committee.

Paragraph 3.1 of the report set out a summary of the responses to petitions that had been accepted by the petition organisers.

In accordance with the Council’s petitions scheme, one petition had been referred for discussion by the Committee and the lead petitioner was in attendance and invited to address the Committee.

The Committee welcomed Mr C Brown to the meeting and he set out his reasons for requesting a review and possible arrangements for residential parking in and around Southwell Road in Strood.

Mr Brown, as Chairman of the Residents’ Association for the area explained the difficulties that residents living in Southwell Road, Lincoln Close, Carlisle Close, Guildford Gardens, Peterborough Gardens and St Albans Road were having parking their cars on roads in the area and requested that the Council provide a new hard standing for parking and/or a residents’ parking scheme. He explained that the availability of on street parking in these roads was severely reduced by the number of commercial vehicles parked in the area, many of which did not belong to local residents. In support of the petition, photographs had been supplied which showed the indiscriminate parking of vehicles causing an obstruction so that pedestrians and, in particular, mothers with prams and elderly persons were forced to walk in the road. This situation was particularly evident during the evenings and weekends and there was concern as to the reduced access for emergency vehicles. The parking of large vehicles close to junction corners was also creating blindspots for drivers when exiting junctions.

Councillor Avey, as Ward Councillor for Strood South spoke in support of the petitioners request for a review of the parking arrangements in the roads stated in the petition.

The Assistant Director Front Line Services thanked Mr Brown for highlighting the issues and, in particular, supplying photographic evidence of the problems. She suggested that the following measures be progressed:

·         Undertake a review of the area and investigate whether there are any  parking restrictions currently in place with a view to pursuing more robust enforcement;

·         Investigating possible actions to restrict the parking of commercial vehicles on the corner of junctions where they create a blindspot for drivers exiting the junction e.g. the provision of double yellow lines on the corners of junctions.

In response to the petitioners request for the provision of restricted parking or the introduction of a Controlled Parking Zone in the area, she confirmed that this would only be considered as a last resort as such arrangements involved a lengthy process and required the agreement of all local residents.

The Committee discussed the petition and the response from the Assistant Director Front Line Services and expressed concern that similar parking issues were experienced in residential areas across Medway. In some instances, the parking of large commercial vehicles was causing damage to grassed verges and services located beneath the pavement. It was recognised that whilst the conversion of green verges into parking bays would be a controversial move, this may be the only way forward in the future so as to accommodate demand for parking subject to available funding.

A Ward Councillor for Strood South commented that the possible conversion of green spaces in the Ward to hardstanding for parking bays had been considered previously but not progressed and she suggested that this be reconsidered. The Assistant Director Front Line Services suggested that this be incorporated into the options previously outlined.

Decision:

The Committee:

a)            noted the petition responses and appropriate officer actions set out in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the report.

b)            thanked the petitioner for attending the meeting and requested that officers:

·                Undertake a review of the area and investigate whether there

are any parking restrictions currently in place with a view to pursuing more robust enforcement;

·                Investigate possible actions to restrict the parking of commercial vehicles on the corner of junctions where they create a blindspot for drivers exiting the junction e.g. the provision of double yellow lines on the corners of junctions.

·                Investigate whether there is capacity for provision of additional parking areas to be provided in the locality, including the possible conversion of green verges into parking bays.

c)            requested that the outcome of the above be the subject of a future report and that the lead petitioner be kept informed of progress.