Parking survey - the result

The results of the parking survey across Fortune Green and West Hampstead which took place last autumn have now been announced by Camden Council. There was a response rate of 13.9% which doesn't seem high when there are such strong views about parking in parts of our area.

The overall results were about two to one "satisfied" with current parking hours but this varied considerably across the three zones. Hardly anyone was keen on an extension of weekend hours, but it's clear that there was a clear area of disagreement in one area in particular.
The report says:
On a street by street basis, a small number of streets located in the east of the CA-P(c) subzone returned higher numbers in favour of extended hours of control during the week. Specifically, these are: Achilles Road, Ulysses Road and Aldred Road. These results are very similar to those of the consultation held in the CA-P zone in 2008/2009, where a majority were in favour of the status quo, but residents in the above roads were in favour of extending the hours of control."
The report goes on to discuss making a "mini-zone" or extending the full day controls of CA-P(a) into CA-P(c) but recommends finally:
"6.15 Overall, whilst there is some interest in making changes to the hours of control in CA-P(c) it is difficult to justify implementing the changes given that in most cases, those wanting change are not in the majority. The current split in hours treats the whole “Greek Streets” area as a single area, which is geographically easily comprehensible to all. Any changes made would be to a small concentration of streets, which would result in a further layer of complexity on street. This is not conducive to a coherent and easily comprehensible experience for all road users and is contrary to the objective of the Parking Policy Review to simplify the parking regime on-street for all parking users.
6.16 While it is recognised that those who desire longer hours feel very strongly on the issue, it is not considered that this should be carried through based on the context of majority opposition to change from the wider coherent area. Therefore, for these reasons, it is not advisable to extend the CA-P(a) boundary to cover those streets where the majority of residents wanted longer hours."

This report which can be read in full with all the figures at: http://democracy.camden.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=612&MId=5160&Ver=4
will be considered and decided upon at a meeting on 18th March at 5pm, at the Town Hall in Committee Room 2. The decsion will be taken by the Cabinet member for Sustainability, Planning and Transport and, at our insistence, will be a public meeting so anyone can attend. Anyone wishing to speak should contact the Committee Clerk, Lorraine.jones@camden.gov.uk by 5pm on Friday. Or you could email the Cabinet Member Phil Jones.

This is a recommendation which will infuriate all those who have been campaigning for a better deal for parking for residents in their street, even while others will be happy with no change. It now falls to us to make sure we can maximise the amount of spaces in this area which are available. This means reviewing yellow lines, removing unused disabled and car club bays and removing other intrusive and illegal parking. Your local councillors will make this a priority.

Good news for North-West London!

Absolutely delighted today to hear of a very large spanner in the works as far as Barnet's proposals for the Brent Cross development! Many congratulations to the " Coalition for a Sustainable Brent Cross Cricklewood campaign! We could be saved huge increases in traffic up here on the North -West frontier of Camden! Let's hope this very large spanner (aka Secretary of State Eric Pickles) does the trick and forces Barnet and their development partners to come up with more modest and sensible schemes!

Here is the Coalition's press release:

PRESS RELEASE Tuesday 4th March 2014
The Coalition for a Sustainable Brent Cross Cricklewood development is celebrating the shock news that the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, has issued an Article 25 so-called “stop notice” preventing Barnet council from granting planning permission, entering into any agreement or passing any resolution that could influence the site’s planning status without ministerial authorisation.
Coalition member Lia Colacicco said “I had to pinch myself when I saw the email. Since 2010 the presumption has been to pass everything, so this was a welcome surprise. Many of us wrote to Eric Pickles asking him to call in BXC for a public inquiry given its impact for miles around– and our MP Sarah Teather and Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council, also wrote regarding the disbenefits to Brent which have been ignored. We mentioned irregularities in the process, public transport, TfL’s objections, the loss of Cricklewood’s only green space and other green spaces in the wider area, and the selective use of transport assessments. But above all the impact on the surrounding areas, particularly the 29,000 extra cars a day.
“We deplore the loss of the promised street layout in this new 'town centre', and its last-minute replacement by a bog-standard indoor shopping centre. We also are horrified by the 'secret' new basement voids, that can be quietly turned over to yet another three layers of car parking.
”We have been calling this a dinosaur development because it was conceived in the 1990s - and it shows. There is nothing exciting, visionary or futuristic about it, only basic sustainability measures – just the highest density most profitable option. North Londoners deserve something exceptional. This is a huge victory for us and our dream of a public inquiry is one step closer.
The group are now hoping that the Secretary of State will reject the recent amendments and call a Public Inquiry. The group is at pains to point out that they are pro regeneration, and pro new homes but against the recent amendments and the missed opportunity to spend some of the £200m planning gain money on better public transport, including possibly light-rail (trams or DLR) for the area.