Tim Walker Senior Engineer from Public Realm
presented the item and provided background information and history
into parking and its legislation:
"The King's Highway", said Chief Justice
Ellenborough in 1812, "is not to be used as a stable
yard.”
- 1847 Town Police Clauses Act -
introduced to close roads to allow public events such as
processions and street parties.
- 1967 Road Traffic Regulation
Act
These Acts gave an explicit definition of
places where people could or could not park hence the reason for
the introduction of double yellow lines.
·
1991 – parking decriminalised so the government introduced
traffic wardens to carry out enforcement to ensure people complied
with the law.
·
2004 – Traffic Management Act – similar provisions to
provide parking and, critically to ensure the movement of
traffic.
·
History of Southwark CPZs (controlled parking zones) 1974 –
1999 3 zones were introduced in the 1970s in the Bankside and
Peckham areas to manage demand for parking where it had exceeded
supply. Subsequently zones were
introduced in the Walworth, Bermondsey and Herne Hill areas to
manage demand prior to congestion charging. There are now 21 zones in Southwark.
What have the CPZs done for us?
- They are internationally recognised
method to manage parking demand. Most major cities in the world
have them.
- They were introduced to prioritise
the limited kerbside parking space.
- To make it easier to find a space to
park, reduce unnecessary commuter car trips and reduce the impact
of parking.
- To improve the streetscape and
enable other uses of the roads – not just for car parking
purposes.
Why increase the number of CPZs?
- The main reason for the increase of
CPZs over the past 30 years was down to an increasing number of
cars on the roads, resulting in additional demand for parking.
- The amount of kerbside parking has
not increased over that same period.
- Many of the restrictions on our
roads are not down to CPZs but due to narrow roads, traffic lights,
pedestrian crossings, bus and cycle lanes, and disabled parking
etc. About one third of our roads are
unsuitable for parking due to their geometry and other (non CPZ)
restrictions.
- The figures shown on car ownership
indicated the number of licensed private and light goods vehicles
in the borough. It also had general
statistics about the average number of cars on UK roads, another
reason why restrictions are in place.
The presenting officer spoke about the various
aspects of parking operations, covering the online ways to make
representations if you were issued with a parking ticket (in error)
and different methods of payment via different sources; smart
phones and how to view parking tickets (PCNs or penalty charge
notices) on the council’s website.
During this segment members and the audience
were given an opportunity to ask questions and express their views,
most of which are highlighted below:
- Every zone that was introduced gets
one to two hours a day. Graces Road had
been a problem for years; the CPZ was actually working in Lucas
Gardens.
- Local resident: It appears parts of
South of the borough have no parking restrictions like, Alleyn and
Dulwich Village, but in Camberwell you might get a £60 fine
for parking in an area that has restrictions. The officer explained
that CPZ distribution was due to the traffic congestion in more
northerly and central areas that generally are not as prominent in
southern parts of the borough. Officer
stated that the cost of a parking ticket is not set by the
council.
- Wells Way Residents Association
representative: If the council decided to put certain roads in a
parking zone that would cause displacement in neighbouring roads.
The 8:30 am to 6:30 pm restrictions were not needed, more shared
parking was needed but no one seemed to take note of their
expressed views during the consultation process.
- Vestry Road resident: Vestry Road
had been utterly disproportionate not all residents in the area
have bought a parking permit and therefore would park in
neighbouring non CPZ roads which caused further displacement to
residents in these roads so commuter parking was not the main
reason for the displacement.
- Dagmar Road resident: Any
implementation of a CPZ in this locality has caused displacement
parking in the area for years, which stemmed from the original
consultation as the council did not consult residents outside the
zone.
- Local resident: East Dulwich
station; parts of street where she resides suffered from additional
parking over the weekends. Officers
should be aware of this issue and take this on board during any
future consultation process.
It was noted that some residents were
in support of CPZs that operate on weekends.
- Brunswick Park T& R association
representative: Although we were consulted on the CPZ we felt the
8:30 am and 6:30pm time restrictions were unnecessary and costly
for workmen to carry out repair work on homes particularly if they
had to use parking vouchers which were not affective.
- South Camberwell resident: Cars
usually get damaged because the council refused to provide
designated parking bays. The
officer’s response was the council did not install individual
parking bays as this was shown to be a less efficient use of kerb
space due to the variety of different car lengths.
- Local resident: As good practice the
ratio of permits to spaces within a parking zone should be 1.0 to
1.3 that would be an acceptable balance.
- Camberwell Youth Community Council:
The pavements around Dog Kennel Hill - Dulwich Hamlet Football
Club; people literally have to walk on the road due to parked
vehicles on pavements. The
officer’s response was that it would be an offence to park on
a footway because of the danger element of this especially there
were no road markings on the road itself. The officer said he would ask the traffic
operations officer to visit the area in order to monitor the
situation. He said people should phone
the council to complain about the illegal parking.
- Complaints about parking
contraventions can be reported on 0844 800 2736.
- SE5 Forum referred to the
displacement of residents shopping in the Camberwell area and the
review/cost of parking permits for independent businesses.
This was noted.
- Local resident: If a resident in a
parking zone wanted to purchase a parking permit, how much would it
cost? The officer advised there would
be a £125 fee for an annual parking permit for residents that
lived within the zone.
- There are some residents who have
decided not to pay the fee; hence the reason people park in a
displacement area. The permits should be free for residents within
the zone. The officer advised that it
would not be possible to run the parking service without money
generated from parking permits. Any
surplus on this ring fenced account would be used to run parking
and road network management and maintenance of roads. A large percentage (50% income) is from parking
tickets.
- A resident made reference to a local
trader who had a loading bay and received a parking ticket whilst
their vehicle was parked on the designated loading bay. The person
appealed against the parking ticket which was denied. This type of
penalisation is inappropriate and an abuse of power. The officer advised that tickets are cancelled if
clear evidence had been given that they had not parked
illegally.
- £125 parking permit fee which
goes towards road maintenance seems to be expensive, the council
are making a lot of profits on this.
Could free weekend parking be considered for the future which was
provided during the Christmas period?
The officer confirmed the council were looking into this.
- Cllr Govier: The council’s two
minute ‘waiting time’ before a parking ticket is issued
seems to be quite draconian in comparison to other boroughs, would
there be any way the council could extend this to five
minutes.
The chair thanked everyone for their
contributions and mentioned that any questions that were not
answered at the meeting would be provided at a future community
council.
Action: All points and
questions would be sent to the appropriate officer and cabinet
member for Transport, Environment and Recycling.