Remember Surrey’s 2009 North Weybridge parking proposal? Many residents objected strongly, with good reason. It proposed CPZ restrictions that would have made life difficult in some roads. The plan was scrapped, and other roads that needed parking controls had to wait. Conclusion? CPZ proposals must be designed to meet the very different local needs of different roads.

2009 North Weybridge CPZ proposal – strongly rejected by residents

Parking and traffic: problem twins…

Our part of Weybridge has traffic and parking issues which vary considerably from road to road. We have several roads used as rat runs, three schools, roads where residents have no off-street parking and others with ample off-street parking.

Previous attempts at strategic parking solutions have failed because they ignored local residents’ differing needs. Can we do better now?

Traffic issues arise from the sheer number of drivers who want to use our local residential roads

As a rat run
Or for the school run
Plus some driving irresponsibly fast where possible

The impact of traffic is serious

Reduced safety for pedestrians and cyclists
Greater disturbance for residents from noise and fumes.

Parking problems have more causes

Limited on-street capacity, in roads where residents have no off-street parking and finding anywhere to park is a challenge
Short term school run parking obstructing driveways, pavements and junctions
Workers and visitors wanting free long-stay on-street parking
Shoppers wanting convenient free short-stay parking

The impact of parking varies

Massive and prolonged negative impact when residents are displaced from parking near their home
Short-term inconvenience and great annoyance when access is obstructed by school run parking at key times
Recurrent annoyance from seeing a road being used as a free car park
Positive effects when considerately parked cars reduce excessive traffic speed (natural traffic calming).

Local priorities

Top priorities for PPDRA (discussed extensively over the past ten years: see previous postings), are that parking restrictions and provision:

Reflect local needs, which vary from road to road
Draw on the views of residents in each road
Give highest priority to safety
Give very high priority to ensuring residents with no off-street parking can find somewhere nearby on-street to park (e.g. by local CPZ in badly affected roads)
Give special attention to school & school-run parking issues, and their impact on residents
Allow ample convenient short stay parking for shoppers
Allow all-day on-street visitor parking where appropriate
Are strategically coordinated across the area to reflect overall needs (without forcing ‘one-size fits all’ restrictions on residents)
Strategically relate on-street controls to off-street (public and private) parking capacity
Provide adequate affordable off-street capacity, without sacrificing the character of our townscape (i.e. avoiding visually intrusive multi-storey car parks or paving over public green spaces)
Don’t use strategic planning as an excuse for inaction: where there is an urgent need, action must be urgent.

Residents’ views matter

Here we give some more background on local issues for residents around traffic and parking, and their impact.

Local views on traffic are reasonably clear — most residents don’t want dangerous rat run traffic in their residential roads — but parking is more divisive. One resident’s solution may be another resident’s problem.

PPDRA’s long held view on parking is that local residents are the people who know most about the parking needs and issues in their road and nearby. Residents are the people who have to live with the issues day after day, so their views should be heard.

Of course restrictions must be strategically coordinated across the area, but that must not disadvantage roads in urgent need.

Residents who have to rely on finding an on-street parking space have the greatest need — so PPDRA has long supported residents’ majority calls for controlled parking zones (CPZs) in roads like Elmgrove Road (given a residents-only CPZ) and Dorchester Road (still waiting).

Areas around schools also have particular needs. For example, we have been lobbying for safety improvements in Grotto Road and Grenside Road.

Wide area CPZ concerns

Currently it is suggested that a large area of Weybridge could be made a CPZ, perhaps with inner and outer zones (see the Weybridge Parking Project). Some local residents — including most of the PPDRA committee — were worried by proposals in the original Parking Project report, because they seemed to ignore considerations that some residents feel are local priorities. Happily, the Weybridge Parking Project team appear to be evolving the proposals in response to concerns.

Impact on our area

One resident said, after reading the report, “I don’t want to see our town ringed by multi-storey car parks and dominated by yellow lines, clearing the way for faster rat run traffic”.

Reduced capacity

Other residents (e.g. in Radnor and Glencoe) are aware that a CPZ in their road would significantly reduce their ability to find anywhere to park, because of all the additional yellow lines (see the 2009 plan above).

Previous proposals rejected

Reduced capacity, greater rat run danger and increased inconvenience were key reasons behind residents’ overwhelming rejection a proposed 2009 North Weybridge CPZ (see plan above).

The proposal to ban daytime parking on Portmore Park Road was especially unpopular. It would have encouraged rat run traffic, reduced parking options for residents of nearby roads, and caused problems for parents collecting children from St Charles Borromeo.

There were also worries of impact outside the proposed CPZ boundary, in Thames Street and beyond.

So what factors must be considered now, and what principles would bring the best outcome? The Local Priorities listed above by PPDRA draw on years of input from local residents.

SHARE YOUR VIEWS AT OUR COMMUNITY MEETING & AGM ON 13 SEPTEMBER
7:30 for 8:00 pm at St Charles Borromeo school hall, Portmore Way, Weybridge

PPDRA position on parking

In summary, PPDRA, rather than proposing specific parking solutions, seeks to

listen to residents’ concerns about parking and traffic, which may vary from road to road
focus on the principles around parking and traffic that matter for our community
lobby Surrey and Elmbridge Councils to act in line with those principles, and find strategic solutions which are sensitive to the differing needs of different roads in north Weybridge

At its heart, our position is that any strategic parking solution must reflect the differing needs of different roads.

Problems vary across our area

Our part of north Weybridge has some very specific parking and traffic issues, which vary enormously across the area.

We have many attractive narrow fronted Edwardian and Victorian homes within walking distance of the town centre, busy schools, local businesses, tree-lined suburban boulevards with large houses, and traffic trying to avoid main road jams.

Diverse issues

Traffic and parking issues vary from road to road:

roads of narrow fronted homes with no off-street parking, where residents have problems finding anywhere to park
roads used as rat runs which would be dangerous without effective traffic calming
shoppers and visitors needing somewhere to park, and displacing residents
roads where school run traffic and parking dominate parts of each school day
workers seeking all day parking, and displacing residents

Strategic needs

Many residents have long believed that strategic action is needed, with the councils working together. Surrey County Council is responsible for controlling on-street parking, Elmbridge for off-street.

A strategic approach to parking and traffic issues will only succeed if it addresses the different issues facing different roads in north Weybridge. It must be sensitive to local priorities and the different needs of different roads.

Strategic solutions are difficult, which means they take time. Hence many residents are disturbed at suggestions that urgently needed local changes should be put on hold pending an overall strategic solution. It should perfectly possible to agree more immediate local changes, in line with an overall strategic vision, to relieve severe problems.

There is a cost to local residents in failing to meet their needs!