Start Of Latest Riverside CPZ Delayed

Bad weather and legal problems delay enforcement for a week

The new CPZ for part of Riverside will be delayed for a week due to teething problems, including delays caused by the snow, and legal problems with the Traffic Management Order, Hounslow Council said today(March 14th).

The parking regulations were due to come into effect this week, but there was local confusion about whether it had started as proposed on March 12th or not. Several resident said signage appeared to be incomplete or non-existent.

In answer to a query from chiswickw4.com Hounslow Council said today: Due to the adverse weather conditions of a couple of weeks ago our highways contractor Hounslow Highways have fallen behind in their works programme across the borough and are currently catching up to complete the installation of all signs and posts in respect of this CPZ.

"A number of errors have also been found in the Traffic Management Order (TMO), the legal document that defines all the parking spaces/restrictions/enforcement times etc. and therefore it has not been possible to make it live and commence enforcement. If we were to enforce without these corrections being made we could be subject to challenges.

"Enforcement of the CPZ has therefore been deferred until Monday 26 March to allow for these corrections to the TMO to be made and the completion of the signs and posts.

"We allow a 14 day grace period after the expiry of a resident’s permit, which should ensure that holders of annual resident’s permits are not negatively impacted.

"We are doing everything we can to overcome this issue as soon as possible and have everything in place before the deferred start date.

Hounslow Council decided to go ahead with a CPZ for part of Riverside ward, following the formal statutory consultation which they say showed that a majority of residents favoured a scheme. The streets are listed here; Burnaby Crescent, Burnaby Gardens, Compton Crescent, Dean Close, Fauconberg Road, Florence Road, Gordon Road, Grove Park Terrace (between railway and Fauconberg Road), Hazledene Road, Nightingale Close, St Mary’s Grove, St Thomas’s Road, Sutton Court Road (between Elmwood Road and Grove Park Bridge), Whitehall Gardens, Whitehall Park Road and Wolseley Gardens.

Following consultations in Riverside ward, Hounslow Council decided in 2016 to add more streets to the area of controlled parking in Grove Park.The proposed large developments near Chiswick, including the Lionel Road football stadium in Brentford had led to more residents in some roads in Grove Park asking for controlled parking to be considered.

Controlled parking was also introduced in some streets at Strand on the Green.

However, not everyone is happy with that as a petition has been launched on Hounslow Council's website, asking to rescind those regulations. It says: "The Strand on the Green parking restrictions which recently came into force are preventing residents of properties from parking their cars close to their property. Not only is this an inconvenience but it increases the chance of theft/damage as cars are parked further away and therefore are not monitored regularly.

"The decision not to allow some local residents to even apply for permits in spite of there consistently being space for at minimum 30 cars and more likely 50 cars during the restricted times is both unjust and lacks all common sense. Further, it is inconveniencing other residents where parking restrictions are not in place. We would like the restrictions lifted immediately or permits to be accessible by all residents without off-street parking!"

Despite deciding some years ago to reject controlled parking for Grove Park as a whole, it now looks as if much of the area is likely to get a parking scheme over the next few years as more streets 'opt in' because of parking 'creep'.

March 18, 2018