Regulatory and Other Committee

Open Report on behalf of Richard Wills - Executive Director for Environment and Economy

Report to: Planning and Regulations Committee Date: 08 September 2014 Road/ Road, : Proposed Subject: Introduction of No Waiting At Any Time (NWAAT) and Limited Waiting Parking Restrictions, Including Verges KeyDecision decision? Reference: No Summary: This report details the objections received to the proposed restrictions on London Road/Grantham Road following both informal and formal consultation with residents and formal consultation with standard consultees and the local Member. As there were no objections as part of the formal consultation from any of the standard consultees, including Sleaford Town Council or the local Member, this proposal has also been formally advertised prior to being presented to this Committee.

Recommendation(s): It is recommended that Members overrule the objections and the traffic regulation order is introduced as advertised.

1. Background

1.1 Long standing concerns have been raised by residents, businesses and highway users regarding the parking situation on London Road, Sleaford who describe it as being 'dangerous' and 'inappropriate' for the location. It causes a bottleneck and narrowing effect both on the direct approach to the London Road / Grantham Road junction and on the bend approaching this junction.

1.2 This parking on both sides of the road causes visibility issues as well as leading to conflicts between east and west bound traffic although 5 year accident records up to March 2014 show only two slight personal injury accidents on London Road, neither of which relates to these conflicts.

1.3 This road is on a bus route and also serves several businesses in the area including a large haulage yard.

1.4 The parking is mainly by commuters who park there then walk in to town.

1.5 The reporting of this proposal to Members has been delayed due to District Council's (NKDC) consultations on proposed Residents Parking Schemes (RPS) in the town; this consultation included residents of London Road. This consultation has now been completed and NKDC do not propose to take forward a RPS in this area at this time as there was not sufficient interest from residents in this area.

1.6 To determine a suitable scheme which had majority support, officers chose to carry out an informal consultation prior to the formal consultation and advertisement. The results of both are detailed below.

1.7 Existing: London Road is a residential street to the south of the town (Appendix A) which links the A15 via Silk Willoughby to Grantham Road and ultimately the town centre. Prior to the A15 bypass being constructed this road formed part of the main route through Sleaford, hence the road is approximately 10.5m in width at its widest point and approximately 8m at its narrowest on the section under consideration within this proposal. With parking on both sides, this reduces to approximately 7m and 3.5m respectively, limiting the road space available for passing vehicles. Forward visibility is also impaired in both directions by this parking which has also led to the proposals covering both sides of the road. Visibility when exiting London Road into Grantham Road is also impaired by parking within 30 minute limited waiting bays and this also needs addressing.

1.8 Proposal: The proposal initially was to introduce a mix of No Waiting At Any Time (NWAAT) and limited waiting parking on London Road as well as reducing the existing amount of limited waiting parking bay provision by one car length on Grantham Road near to the London Road junction.

1.9 Initial Objections: To gain as many comments and ideas as possible from residents, officers carried out an informal residents and local Member only consultation between 13 th September 2013 and 11 th November 2013. Initial proposals were put forward via this informal stage of the process (Appendix B) and this received 17 objections, most from residents directly affected but also some from residents who lived just beyond the proposed scheme. A summary of these objections follows.

1.9.1 The double yellow lines on the south side should be extended to beyond the second Southfields Estate junction.

1.9.2 The proposed gap between 32 and 44 London Road is dangerous as cars will park there, blocking the view of road users. The double yellow lines should run continuously on the south side.

1.9.3 The order should be extended on the north side to the junction with Ickworth Road.

1.9.4 The proposed three hour parking bay outside numbers 1 to 11 inclusive will have a drastic impact on our lives. Please reconsider.

1.9.5 The existing length of limited waiting on Grantham Road near to the London Road junction should be shortened to give increased visibility.

1.9.6 Restrictions on both sides of London Road will cause inconvenience for residents in the evening and at weekends. Consider some limited waiting.

1.9.7 Consider all areas becoming limited waiting rather than no waiting at any time.

1.9.8 Parking on my property is limited. Introducing restrictions will remove the ability of visitors to park outside my house. The proposals limit the day-to-day activities of my household.

1.9.9 These proposals will displace parking to further down the street and into other streets.

1.9.10 Resident's Parking would be the best way to tackle this problem.

1.10 All the objectors were written to after the end of this informal consultation period to acknowledge their objections and consideration was given to all objections. Items 1.9.2, 1.9.4, 1.9.5, 1.9.6 and 1.9.7 were looked at in more detail and some changes were made to the proposal prior to the formal consultation and advertisement. The remainder of the objections were felt not to support the objectives of the scheme and were not taken forward as part of the formal process.

1.11 It is recognised that displaced parking will occur as is usual following the introduction of restrictions of this type. Some objectors have highlighted this and officers will look at this in more detail once the scheme has been in place for at least 12 months.

1.12 Comments: County Councillor Mark Allan supported these initial proposals but did raise concerns regarding the proposals to introduce limited parking bays, particularly outside numbers 1 to 11 London Road.

2. Consultations

2.1 Formal consultation and advertisement

2.1.1 Having taken account of all objections received from the informal consultation, formal consultation was carried out between 7th January 2014 and 10 th February 2014 with the advertisement ending in May 2014 (Appendix C).

2.2 Proposal

2.2.1 The formal proposal is to introduce a mix of No Waiting At Any Time (NWAAT) and limited waiting parking on London Road as well as reducing the existing length of limited waiting parking bay provision by one car length on Grantham Road near to the London Road junction.

2.3 Formal Objections

The consultation attracted 3 objections to the proposals and the advertisement received 1 objection. These are summarised below:

2.3.1 There is no off-street parking for residents of Grantham Road near to the London Road junction so the limited waiting parking bays should be removed and residents, including those on London Road, should be allowed to use this space.

2.3.2 Residents Parking should be introduced as a control and to ensure residents can park near to their properties.

2.3.3 The proposals will prevent me from parking outside my house to load and unload.

2.3.4 Can all the parking be limited waiting and not no waiting at any time?

2.3.5 I am worried that displaced parking will affect my life. Vehicles will park directly adjacent to my house.

2.4 Comments

2.4.1 London Road is a well-used route for all types of vehicle. Leaving the current parking situation as it is will continue to put drivers and other highway users at risk as the potential for conflict remains. Carrying out an informal consultation with residents has proved extremely valuable in that it has helped determine the most important issues for these residents and helped shape a scheme which is acceptable to the majority. The objections from this initial consultation have, in the main, been addressed and the proposal has been altered to give the scheme that is before Members now.

2.5 Conclusion

2.5.1 The reasons for implementing this proposal, to remove the safety hazards that exist now, far outweigh the upholding of the small number of objections and it is for this reason that officers recommend the objections are overruled and the scheme is implemented as advertised.

a) Policy Proofing Actions Req uired N/A

Appendices

These are listed below and attached at the back of the report Appendix A Site Plan Appendix B Initial Proposals Appendix C Final Proposals

Background Papers

No background papers within Section 100D of the Local Government Act 1972 were used in the preparation of this report.

This report was written by Rowan Smith, who can be contacted on 01522 782070 or rowan.smith@.gov.uk.