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.