COUNCIL RESPONSE TO PETITION

In mid-December we received the following response to our petition:

Dear Residents

 Response to Petition – Request for a CPZ in the roads surrounding the Myatts Fields Park

 I refer to your petition relating to the introduction of controlled parking in the roads surrounding Myatts Fields Park  which was presented to full Council on 19 November 2014.

 I am sympathetic to the problems you are encountering. The Council does have limited resources for traffic management and the Council’s current priority is to address excessive speed in Lambeth  by introducing a 20 MPH zone throughout the borough. We are, however, hoping to also carry out a review of parking borough wide to inform a future decision about how to prioritise parking controls in future years. The area around Myatts Field Park would of course be included in such a review. I note your comments about the surplus from parking revenue but this money is fully committed to existing programmes and to pay the Council’s contribution to Transport for London for the Freedom Bus Pass scheme.

 Regards

 Sue Foster (Strategic Director for Delivery)

We asked Ms Foster for clarification:

• What are your proposed timelines for the parking review? When will it be conducted and when will the results be available?
• What is the scope and objective of this review?
•  Is it the Council’s position that no budget will be allocated to any parking project prior to this review being completed? Are you therefore saying no budget will be allocated in the 15/16 budget?

Just before Christmas we received the following response

Dear Petitioners

 I am sending this reply on behalf of Rajesh Mistry, Programme Director, Environment  to the follow-up questions you submitted relating to your petition.

•  We propose to carry out  a feasibility study of parking stress in the borough.  The study will allow us to take a strategic approach to the issue of parking stress borough-wide. Once staff resources have been put in place, we anticipate the study will commence in April 2015.
• The feasibility study will be carried out during 2015.  While the whole study will take 12 months, it will be phased allowing results from some areas to be analysed earlier in the year.
• The scope is a) a borough-wide study of parking stress, and b) a review of existing CPZ’s – hours of operation, to assess whether they continue to meet the needs of residents and businesses, etc.
• The study will provide the evidence base for assessing new CPZ areas in the future.  The intention is to have a full overview of parking and driver behaviour in the borough before taking forward any changes rather than introducing small CPZs which create displacement of parking issues.
• Any funding for parking in 15/16 will be used to carry out the study mentioned above. As the study will take 12 months we are not planning on making any changes until we have analysed the data from the feasibility study.

 Best wishes

Richard Godfrey (Interim Divisional Development Manager)

At least the Council position is now clear (previously we’d had myriad conflicting communications about how the budget “process” worked, it no seems there is no process to prioritise projects, rather that topline department budgets are set and then individual projects are funded at whim throughout the year which rather begs the question why we have repeatedly been told no budget was allocated).

However, the position is clearly not what we have hoped for, and is against all common sense, especially if Lambeth are cash-strapped.  There are many surveys, including of Lambeth’s own undertaking, which clearly show that we suffer from displaced parking (700 more cars are parked in Vassall Ward on a weekday vs a weekend).  A cursory glance at a CPZ map shows why: we are the most central area of London with no resident restrictions and are surrounded on all sides by CPZs.  Why is the Council spending their limited resources, and wasting more time, with yet another survey that will tell us what we already know?

We have asked Mr Godfrey to respond on this, and are waiting for a response.

ABANDONED VEHICLES UPDATE

Some good news: the abandoned Volvo on Inglis Street has been removed.

The abandoned Volvo on Inglis has now been removed.

The white van on Calais Street remains a key problem though the Council Officers (Mick Hepworth) has suggested it will be removed this week.

The Calais St van is still squatting..

We are still getting no traction on the caravans.  Most councils have a clear policy on caravans but we have not been able to get one from Lambeth.  Our understanding is that if the caravan is not displaying road tax, number plates and is not lit at night then it is illegally on the road and can be removed.  This would mean the caravans on Cormont and Inglis could be removed immediately.  We will continue to push this with the Council.

Caravan on Cormont in a very poor state, hasn’t moved in months.

Meeting with Rob Heslop, Lambeth Officer

We met yesterday with Rob Heslop, Transport Planning Manager at Lambeth and wanted to give you all a full debrief, apologies for the long email:

COUNCIL STAKEHOLDERS

Robert Heslop is the Transport Planning Manager, responsible for looking at the transport impact of developments such as the Oval Quarter (though this was before his time).  Due to ongoing restructuring and resignations he is also caretaking the Traffic Manager role.  The Traffic Manager (currently a vacant position) is responsible for the development of CPZs.  Mick Hepworth, from whom we have previously received emails, works in this department for Rob and therefore both Mick and Rob are the key Officers for the CPZ.  Rob reports into Raj Mistry who is the Delivery Lead for Environment which encompasses several other departments such as cycling and parking enforcement.

It is clear that there is a lot of uncertainty at the Council due to restructuring and changes in budget allocations.  This doesn’t help us.  Over the next month the Officers have to put in their pitches for next financial year’s budget (2015/16) and the decisions for allocations will be taken by Jenny Brathwaite the lead Council member for transport (Jenny is elected).

These are the four key people we will need to ensure are fully briefed and convinced of the need for a CPZ.

Rob agreed to identify a “point person” for us in the Street Care department which looks after abandoned vehicles.  This would be someone whom we could contact regularly, and who could come to do a site visit.  This would enable a much easier follow up for us.

A new team is being set up within the Council to deal with all consultations.  When this team is up and running we will also need to meet with them to discuss process.  For instance, how could we weight the results of a consultation so more weight was given to residents with no access to private parking (in the last consultation the results were swung by residents with private parking – such as the flats on Cormont Road – voting no)?  This would involve a change in Council policy.

THE CURRENT SITUATION

There is complete agreement that there is a need for a CPZ in our area.  As part of the Oval Quarter’s planning obligations a parking survey was undertaken in March 2012.  This clearly shows our problem.  For instance, on Calais St 88% of parking is occupied on a Wednesday at 2pm vs 45% on a Saturday.  The Council take 90% as fully occupied but we believe this underestimates the issue.  % occupied is based on the length of the road divided into 5m segments vs the number of cars.  This means 65 cars on Calais St is 88% occupied but by our count 65 cars is fully occupied due to different sizes of cars, poor parking etc.

The Oval Quarter will need to do another parking survey once the development is 95% occupied but there is no estimate of when that will be.  We have been categorically told that the decision to proceed with a CPZ in our area is in no way influenced by the Oval Quarter development and we are therefore not obliged to wait until the development is occupied.

BUDGET

Lack of funding is the only reason a CPZ consultation cannot go ahead immediately.  Previously such consultations could be partly funded by TfL but Rob has been told that this is no longer possible.  We want to follow up with TfL to confirm that this is the case.

The pitches for the next financial year are being done this month though there is no timeline on when the agreed budget and projects will be confirmed.  A pitch for our CPZ, along with several others in the Borough (notably Streatham and a change to the CPZ in Vauxhall) is being made.

Even though it is widely recognised that we have a problem, we need to be organised, constructive and effective to ensure that budget is confirmed and prioritised for our area.

Our Councillors will be key in lobbying to ensure that this happens.  Additionally, we need a very strong petition so PLEASE SIGN.  If we do secure full budget the earliest project set-up would be April 2015, so we are looking at a summer 2015 at the very earliest for a consultation and therefore 2016 for a CPZ (presuming we can secure a majority vote).  This timeline is of course very disappointing and we must continue to challenge the Council on timings and see if TfL is a potential source of revenue.

NEP PROJECT AROUND MYATTS FIELDS

As part of the NEP project, waiting restrictions , speed bumps and passing places were all proposed by the Council and Residents.  A consultation was done on this last year.  The Council received objections to speed bumps and these have now been cancelled.  No objections were made to the waiting restrictions and passing places so these will be implemented in the next few months.  This means all junctions will have double yellow lines, and there aresignificant stretches of both Knatchbull Road and Calais Street with double yellows to allow traffic to pass.  Inevitably this means we are losing parking spaces and the implementation of this without a CPZ will mean increased parking stress.  However since no formal objections were made these measures are being put in place very soon.  I have asked Rob to send us the map of the project along with details of how regularly the area will be monitored by traffic wardens which should also help with the problem of abandoned vehicles.

VASSALL WARD TRAFFIC PROJECTS

As per previous emails from Des and Mick, there is a significant project happening in our ward and around Loughborough Junction with the ambition to make it more resident-friendly.  At the request of the Loughborough Junction Action Group they are looking at such radical ideas as closing Loughborough Road to traffic.  George Wright will be responsible for this project and we need to meet with him as quickly as possible so that we are influencing the work.  It is clear that Loughborough Junction Action Group are very effective in their lobbying and we can take lessons from their organisation and network.

COUNCILLOR MEETING 13/08/14

Last night I met with the fantastic Jacqui Dyer, one of our new councillors and previously Chair of the Myatts Field North Residents’ Committee.  As a very local resident, she has an intimate knowledge of our parking issues and is very supportive of our campaign for resident parking restrictions.  I took her through the key documents we’ve uncovered, as well as the litany of broken promises to date.  

She and the other councillors will help us to secure a meeting with transport Officers Des Crehan and Mick Hepworth (we were promised that dates would be proposed this week but are still waiting).  These Officers are the key to securing our objective.  She also advised that the next Council meeting is in November and we need to have a strong petition to present.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!  Over the next few days we will be preparing the petition and we then need to drum up overwhelming local support.  We can do this by emailing, but our email distribution list covers only a fraction of the local population.  We would like to recruit some “road captains” who will assume responsibility for getting signatures both on paper and on email for their roads.  By this method of divide and conquer we hope to cover more ground quickly.  We also hope to post signs in the park, library, cafe and publicise in local media.  So if you have any time you can volunteer, please let us know at myattsfieldparking@gmail.com

The success of this campaign will be down to our engagement so let’s get organised! 

Latest News from the Council

There have been a few emails from the council over the last few days on which we wanted to update you.  This is a long post but it’s important we record the full emails and our proposed response.

Firstly, from Mick Hepworth, Senior Project Manager for Housing Communities and Environment at Lambeth Council to all residents of Vassall Ward:

Dear Resident of the Vassall Ward;
 
Many of you have made comment regarding a number of problems in the Vassall ward that include increased vehicular traffic and congestion. These are issues Lambeth are looking in to which have recently led to local consultation, which would result in the introduction of waiting restrictions. We received no objections to these consultations and are as such are looking to implement the measures as soon as we can.
 
We are currently completing the NEP projects and anticipate there may be some funding remaining. Once we have confirmed this we will investigate introducing further waiting restrictions in order to hopefully try deal with traffic problems that have been raised in recent communications from you. It must be noted that these measures will need to be consulted upon prior to them being taken forward.
 
We also have plans in the wider Loughborough Road area to try to reduce through traffic using filtered permeability (ie. allowing cycles to be able to move through the area) as set out below:

• We are looking into two road closures this financial year, being Padfield Road and part of Minet Road which have been requested by LJAG,

• Loughborough Road – we have commissioned DSDHA consultants to work with Loughborough Junction Action Group (LAG) to develop a public realm scheme for the Loughborough Road/Coldharbour Lane junction.  Where there will be consultation of options later in the summer,

• LJAG are keen for these to be the first phase of area-wide filtered permeability – closing roads across the area to through traffic, while still allowing local access to cars.  This has been done extensively in Hackney to encourage walking and cycling and reduce road danger,

• We are now preparing a scoping study of the impacts of closing Loughborough Road.  This work will give us a baseline picture of options for further road closures to cut the amount of through traffic within the Vassall/Coldharbour area.

 
I am meeting with colleagues towards the end of next week where I shall be raising further questions as to a way forward to improve conditions for Vassall ward residents and shall update you in due course.

Great news that they acknowledge a problem in the area, alarming that they think closing a major road like Loughborough is a good idea.  Surely this will just exacerbate problems on side roads like ours?  We want more detail on this, and how they have the money to fund studies like this but NOT a study on a CPZ.  Who is prioritising and according to what criteria?  They reference the NEP Project which should have been implemented by spring this year: what is happening with this?  Why have the projects for our area, such as passing places on Calais Street, not been implemented? (The report can be found here http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/sites/default/files/NEPconsultationreportVassall.pdf).

We are asking for a meeting to discuss all these issues and more.  If you have further questions, please leave us a comment or drop us an email and we will be sure to raise it and pass on the answers.

We will also be reaching out to the Loughborough Junction Action Group who appear to be having some impact.  This is a very organised group and we need to ensure we understand their proposals and the impact they could have on our area.

Secondly, an email from Des Crehan, also of Communities, Housing and Environment:

Dear Residents

I am writing to you in regards to the traffic and parking problems you have raised.  The Council has recently undergone a restructure, part of which has been the merging of a number of services, including Transportation, which I am now in charge off. I am concerned at the lack of communication and that Council Officers have previously promised actions which have never been taken. The officer is no longer with the Council and I am advised that there are no records of any agreements or arrangements being made. This does concern me as it is apparent that conversations did take place.  I can only apologise if you have been provided with incorrect or misleading information. As part of the lessons learned exercise I will be recommending a review of the records management to identify any improvements which can be made. 

 

Controlled Parking Zones (CPZ)

The cost of a CPZ can be excess of £200k, dependant on the nature of the scheme. Due to these high costs, the Council is limited to the number of consultations it can carry out in any financial year. We have received a number of requests for new CPZs in other areas of the borough and unfortunately we have had to turn these down as well as we currently have no resources allocated in our budget. Although the Council does receive some funding from developments as part of the Section 106 scheme (a S106 agreement is an agreement between developers and local authorities, which as part of the planning proposals includes financial contributions towards for example, highway works, or maintenance payments for things like affordable housing and public open space) this is insufficient to cover potential costs of the CPZ. In addition, the funding is subject to a number of terms and conditions, for example:

• A percentage of the funding has to be used towards surveys of parking stress levels the development has impacted. .
• Part of the funding is not available until the development is 95% occupied.

When considering a CPZ it is difficult to restrict this to a specific area of streets as historically it has been found that this results in the displacement of vehicles to other surrounding streets outside of the new CPZ, causing parking stress in these areas.  It is necessary therefore when implementing a CPZ to include a wider area to compensate for this. The s106 contribution from the Myatts Field planning application has been earmarked for the developer to undertake a parking survey on roads within 500m of the site prior to occupation of 95% of the residential units. Only if the parking stress on those roads has increased to over 90%, will it be possible to consider conducting a consultation on a CPZ.  

What are the alternatives?

The only way we can place resident or paid parking would be via a CPZ, which can only be done via the formal consultation process. There is a Temporary Traffic Management Order process however this is to prohibit or control vehicular or pedestrian activities along a length of public highway due to either planned/emergency works, or where there is the likelihood of danger to the public, for instance if debris is falling from a building. Therefore a temporary TMO would not be able to install parking bays but could relieve traffic stress via the placing of parking restrictions. I am aware that to address the traffic and congestion issues raised by residents a number waiting restrictions on the roads around Myatts Field Park. It appears we have received no objections to these and we are looking to implement these as soon as we can. We are also looking a number of further options for reducing the congestion problems. The team is meeting this week and I will advise you of the outcome as soon as possible.

Resident Engagement

I acknowledge that communication and engagement with residents has not been to a level or standard I would have expected. I will be therefore asking my Transport Planning Manager to set up a meeting with local resident and action groups in the coming weeks to discuss your concerns and issues. This will ensure we can give this full consideration as a priority   

Abandoned Vehicles

One of my officers is working with our Street Care Team to address the issues raised regarding abandoned/illegally parked vehicles in the area.

Again, some positives here, not the least an acknowledgement of our concerns and the council’s failings.  But it leaves many questions to be answered, such as:

• What are the costs vs revenue from CPZs? (a subsequent email states it is impossible to forecast but there are plenty of CPZs in Lambeth which could give them a steer)
• How was the initial parking survey for Oval Quarter conducted?  This survey apparently revealed “significant capacity” in the area – did they conduct at 8am on a Sunday morning?  It is impossible to imagine this was conducted during the week.
• What were the results of the pre-parking survey (a more comprehensive study) that the developers were legally obliged to conduct?  How was it conducted?
• As Des states, they will have to follow up the pre survey with a post survey to identify the impact of the development but this will only be done when 95% occupied.  When is this likely to be?
• Lambeth made a £12m surplus on parking last year which must be spent on transport projects (including costs of things like the Freedom Pass).  How has this £12m been allocated and how is it impossible to find £200k, a lot of which will be recouped through revenues generated?  The council managed to find budget to fund an emergency consultation in Herne Hill, why not for us?
• He references displaced parking: this is one of our primary issues as we are surrounded by other CPZs.  Why not extend one of the exisiting CPZs, such as CPZ A (which currently stops on Carew Street, on the other side of the railway line), to our streets?
• We need to see detailed plans of the local area with the NEP projects and his proposed waiting restrictions.  We need to address dangerous parking and pedestrian obstructions, but these need to be balanced with the lack of parking for residents.

We have asked for a meeting at his earliest convenience and he has promised to confirm a time for this meeting next week when the relevant people are back from holiday.

 

Please leave us your comments and opinions so that we can be sure to raise them at our forthcoming meetings.  We are meeting the Councillors on the 11th: they have no direct jurisdiction over parking issues but are critical in lobbying and influencing the Officers like Des and Mick.

 

We believe the best way of doing this is to speak with one, constructive voice and therefore propose that all discussions are channelled through the myattsfieldparking email address.  We will be sure to update all residents regularly.