Ealing Council agrees to a number of mitigating measures

A sign held up at the recent protest against the plan on Acton Green

Southfield Lib Dems say they have managed to negotiate concessions on the controversial Ealing 'shared bay' parking saga.

The Council have agreed to cut back on the number of shared bays by over 10 per cent, to introduce a six month trial period in certain streets, and the council is to monitor the scheme and remove shared bays if some streets are too full of commuters.

Southfield ward Councillors attended a meeting with Council staff from the transport team and the Leader of Ealing Council to discuss the shared parking bays for Southfield which councillors say will attract more cars and pollution.

The proposal was very unpopular with local residents and a petition calling for the scheme to be scrapped, had a response of over 3,000 signatures.

Councillor Gary Malcolm said; "In the meeting we reiterated that we are against the scheme and that the Council had created the plans in a manner similar to a ‘back of a fag packet’ approach."

During the meeting a number of concessions were made by the Council:

-The number of shared bays will be 12% less than Ealing Council's original plans, after they have removed some bays near to the Primary School and other nurseries.

-There will be a six month trial to monitor if certain roads become clogged with additional vehicles.

-A guarantee that if the pricing is seen to be too cheap then the price of parking in a shared bay will be increased to deter traffic.

-The transport team are to survey the streets and share information they have about how empty or full that bays are in different streets. If particular, if roads are too full of commuters, then bays can be removed from the scheme.

It was agreed that the Council would "give something back to Southfield" by installing a number of cycle hangers (no location details yet), a number of EV charging points and traffic markings / signs or crossings to reduce traffic speeds.

Councillor Gary Malcolm added: "So, despite not wanting shared parking bays in Southfield, the Council has at least reduced the severity of their plans. I must thank all the residents and groups who complained about the proposals which has helped the cause. It has certainly been a very busy two months but moving forwards we will be monitoring the shared bays issue when they get introduced."

You can read our previous stories on the issue.

August 4, 2018