Anger and Confusion Ahead of Grove Park Traffic Changes

Enforcement of new restrictions begins on Monday

Signs are up already for new Staveley Road restrictions

With the enforcement of new restrictions in the Grove Park area of Chiswick about to begin most residents do not yet know if they will apply to them.

From Monday 24 January, the eastern end of Staveley Road will be access only for most of the day Monday to Saturday. There will be exemptions for local residents and some occupations such as doctors, pharmacists, nurses and 'disability carers'. The application process for exemptions opened on 10 January but it appears that those who have applied have not been told whether or not their exemption has been confirmed.

Staveley Road east of Burlington Lane and Hartington Road from the A316 will both have the same operational hours of 8am-7pm Monday-Saturday. Previously this stretch of Staveley Road was part of a school street programme which had more limited hours of operation and was only in place during term time. Burlington Lane will be exit only except for pedal bikes onto the A316 at all times.

All residents and businesses within the ‘Fauconberg Road’ and the ‘Grove Park residents’ CPZ controlled parking zones (CPZ) will be eligible for exemption as well as all residents living on the roads east of the A316, between and including Boston Gardens to the north, and Riverside Drive (to the south). This includes Staveley Road allotment holders and residents of St Mary’s Convent Nursing Home.

Visitors, taxis and delivery drivers will not be exempt and any of them needing to access the Grove Park area from the A316 will now need to drive up to the A4 and travel west to Sutton Court Road before doubling back.

Residents of the area claim that, since the signs have gone up for the scheme, increased tailbacks from the Hogarth Roundabout have already been occurring and they fear that congestion will get worse once enforcement of the new measures starts in earnest.

Local ward councillors have been assured that, for the first two weeks of operation, any infringement of the restrictions will result in a warning letter rather than a PCN but some residents say they will avoid the road in any case until they can be sure they won't be fined.

Most residents should have received a reminder letter with details of how to apply but problems with the post locally have reportedly led to them being delivered late or not at all with many people saying the reminder did not arrive until 21 January. Residents have been told that the application process will take up to ten days. There has been some confusion as the the correct place to apply for exemptions online. The original link distributed by the council no longer works and some residents have incorrectly attempted to apply for an exemption through the school streets page on the council web site. The council continued to describe the measure as a school streets restriction despite it applying at the weekend and outside school hours and term time which appears to have caused further confusion.

One Grove Park resident contacted us to say, "I received no letter nor any other communication from Hounslow Council about this matter. The only reason I knew about what was happening and how to apply for exemption was by reading an article on the ChiswickW4.com web site. Even though I started the application process as early as possible it has been very fraught and I still don't know for sure if I won't be fined for driving on Staveley Road."

There has been some concern in the area that access to care will become more difficult with elderly residents uncertain how to arrange exemptions for carers who may change on a regular basis. They say there is no clarity as to how quickly new exemptions will be processed and are worried visits may need to be curtailed if carers are stuck in traffic getting to their homes.

The Park Road Neighbours group has written to the council asking them to postpone the start of the scheme until issues with exemptions have been fully resolved.

Meanwhile attempts by residents in the west of Grove Park and in the Strand on the Green area to be included in the zones that are exempt from the restriction have been unsuccessful. The Strand on the Green Residents Association argued that forcing their members to drive round by the A4 to access their homes served only to increase congestion and pollution in the area. A council officer responded to their request by saying it was impossible to include residents in the area not already exempted because of the 'administrative burden'.

Those residents opposed to the existing barrier on the western end of Staveley Road looks set to be disappointed. It has been argued that the restriction is unnecessary following the implementation of the new measures which should substantially cut the number of vehicles cutting through the area. The council are working towards constructing a permanent structure that will be less unsightly.

The Staveley Road restrictions have been introduced as part of the council’s Streetspace programme. It is being implemented as a trial measure using Experimental Traffic Management Orders (ETMOs) which means that feedback will be collected as the trial proceeds.

The new link for applying for an exemption if you haven't already done so is here.

We have asked the council for comment about issues residents have been having with applying for exemptions and await a response.

January 23, 2022