Agenda item

This report seeks approval to formalise a pilot parking initiative trialled in the Queens Park area to help alleviate congestion outside local schools.

(i)            that the results of the pilot parking initiative trialled in the Queens Park area to help alleviate congestion outside local schools be noted;

(ii)          that the proposal to proceed to formal consultation on making parking free in the pay and display bays in Chevening Road and Kingswood Avenue, adjacent to Queens Park, between 15:00 and 16:30 be not agreed;

(iii)         that further to the meeting held on 20 January 2016 between officers, ward councillors, QPARA members and school representatives officers work towards establishing a transport consortium of local stakeholders to further discuss what solutions can be found to alleviate the congestion outside schools in the area and not to encourage car usage, in keeping with the council’s wider transport strategies and to report back to the Highways Committee at its next meeting around June 2016;

(iv)         that consideration be given to how the outcomes from the discussions referred to in (iii) above can be used as a template for tackling wider issues across the borough concerning car usage and parking around schools.

The committee considered the report on the pilot parking initiative in the Queens Park area designed to help alleviate congestion outside local schools.  A paper from the Queens Park Area Residents Association (QPARA) dated 17 January 2016 on the Salusbury Road schools pick up/drop off issues and another providing a commentary on the results of the survey carried out by the Council of travel to school modes and parents’ response to questions had been previously circulated to members of the committee and copies were available at the meeting.  The chair began by acknowledging that the lack of consultation with the residents association had left them feeling excluded but that nevertheless action was needed to improve the problem.  She invited Helen Dunsford from QPARA to speak on the matter.

Helen Dunsford stated that there were five schools within 250 metres of each other with a combined total of 1,500 pupils.  This made the parking problems very difficult.  The situation had come to a head during September 2015 when local councillors were invited to witness people parking on the bus stop, yellow lines and double parking, with Chevening Road jammed.  She stated that officers had introduced the pilot scheme without consultation with residents which went against the Council’s principles on parking.  The free parking had encouraged additional cars into the area with a resulting increase in pollution and suggested this set a precedent areas around other schools.  She urged the committee not to agree the proposals in the report.  The committee was advised that different initiatives were considered according to the circumstances and so no general precedent was being set.  The situation in the Queens Park area was the worst in the borough despite there being unused pay and display bays nearby.  Members of the committee expressed concern that the pilot scheme rewarded poor behaviour by car drivers.  With the increasing numbers of cars on the road the Council tried to encourage people not to use their cars to take children to school.  This was healthy for the child and reduced pollution for local residents.  The difficulty of the situation was recognised but it was felt that a fresh approach was needed in an effort to look for a solution that did not cause conflict between parents, schools and residents.  Councillor Nerva addressed the committee as a ward member and expressed the hope that the proposals in the report were not agreed.

It was proposed that a local transport consortium should be gathered together to reconsider proposals for the area.  The request was also made that the outcome of the discussion at the Highways Committee should be forwarded to the planning service to take into account on addressing the Islamia School proposals.

RESOLVED:

(i)         that the results of the pilot parking initiative trialled in the Queens Park area to help alleviate congestion outside local schools be noted;

(ii)        that the proposal to proceed to formal consultation on making parking free in the pay and display bays in Chevening Road and Kingswood Avenue, adjacent to Queens Park, between 15:00 and 16:30 be not agreed;

(iii)       that further to the meeting held on 20 January 2016 between officers, ward councillors, QPARA members and school representatives officers work towards establishing a transport consortium of local stakeholders to further discuss what solutions can be found to alleviate the congestion outside schools in the area and not to encourage car usage, in keeping with the council’s wider transport strategies and to report back to the Highways Committee at its next meeting around June 2016;

(iv)       that consideration be given to how the outcomes from the discussions referred to in (iii) above can be used as a template for tackling wider issues across the borough concerning car usage and parking around schools;

(v)        That a report regarding issues related to parking around schools along with initiatives to address them be presented to the next Highways Committee.