Parking could be bespoke……..

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Proposals for Residents’ Parking Scheme for Dale Road, Harvey Road and Thames Street

The results of the consultation questionnaire sent to residents in Dale Road, Harvey Road, Mayo Road and Thames Street earlier this year have now been collated and a proposal that there should be a Residents Parking Zone established for Dale Road, Harvey Road and Thames Street, but not in Mayo Road, goes to the Surrey CC Local Committee on Thursday 14^th June.

While the proposals show some progress in recognising that the people of Mayo Road overwhelmingly do not want a RPZ, there is regrettably little recognition of the reality that houses in Dale Road, Harvey Road and Thames Street vary considerably in terms of their size and their ability to provide their occupants with off-street parking. This variety is reflected in the different responses from these 3 roads. The “one-size fits all” proposal that seems to be on the table therefore does not adequately meet local residents’ requirements.

Clearly a majority of residents in Harvey Road want a residents parking scheme established there, and we would agree that this makes sense, although given the narrowness of the road, there would need to be a formal recognition of the fact that on one side of the road, vehicles should be allowed to park partly on the kerb, which is not mentioned in the proposals.

In Dale Road, less than half of the people who responded to the questionnaire said they wanted the scheme proposed, which makes it debateable whether we have the right to impose such a scheme.  Yet, I know that for a fair number of the residents in Dale Road, there is a considerable need for a means to ensure they can park reasonably close to their own homes.  Some scheme therefore should be devised  to enable this. In Thames Street, less than half the people who received the questionnaire replied and of those replying barely more than half voted for the scheme, which indicates to us that great care needs to be taken in what we come up with.

Having discussed this among all the Walton Central Councillors, we have decided that I, as one of the Local Committee Members, should ask at Thursday’s meeting that we accept that nothing further should be done in respect of Mayo Road, but that we would like to work with SCC’s Highways team involved with parking and the local residents to come up with a detailed scheme that meets the aspirations of those who have indicated a need for a scheme whilst causing minimal inconvenience to those for whom a RPZ scheme is not appropriate.

Councillor Neil Luxton