Hampshire County Council

Executive Member - Environment

12 December 2001

Traffic Regulation Order - Ridgeway Parade,
The Verne, Church Crookham

Report of the County Surveyor

Item 11

Contact: Mandy Ware, ext 5916

1. Summary

1.1 The following decision is sought:

2. Reason

2.1 The scheme was developed in response to concern over on-street parking issues raised by the traders and some residents. The proposals were advertised with the approval of the Police with no objection from the local Member, Councillor Hutcheson. They are intended to prevent:

3. Objections

3.1 Two letters of objection have been received as a result of formal advertisement and the issues raised are summarised in the attached appendix, together with officer's comments. None are considered significant and therefore withdrawal or amendment of the proposals is not justified. Councillor Hutcheson has confirmed that he is content for the Order to be implemented.

4. Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Decision Maker or a Member or Officer Consulted - Not applicable.

5. Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee - Not applicable.

6. Reason(s) for the Matter being dealt with if Urgent - Not applicable.

Approved by: Date:

Councillor K B Estlin

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1.

Published works.

2.

Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

TITLE

LOCATION

Scheme file - Ridgeway Parade, The Verne, Church Crookham

County Surveyor's Department

Room 307

6786/MW

APPENDIX

Objector

Objection

Officer's Comments

1.

Mr and Mrs T Luke

72 The Verne

Church Crookham

(i)

That prohibition of waiting is proposed outside of the property and unfairly forces the objectors' visitors to park outside of a neighbours property or incur the two hour restriction on waiting outside the parade of shops.

The public highway is available for the passage of the public by a variety of methods. Provided that the objectors cause no obstruction to another highway user and there is no restriction, then the objectors and their visitors may park outside of a property despite its ownership. Parking outside of the parade of shops is restricted to two hours between the hours of 8 am and 6 pm, Monday to Saturday. Outside of this period no restriction applies.

(ii)

That the implementation of the waiting restrictions will affect the value and future resale value of the property.

It is considered that allowing parking outside of No. 72 may potentially obstruct buses travelling south-east along The Verne, making the deviation around a vehicle particularly difficult when the parking bay proposed on the north-east side of the island is occupied at its southernmost extent. No. 72 exists at the junction of The Verne with Ridgeway Parade. It should be noted that the recommendation of the Highway Code, Section 217, is that vehicles should not be parked opposite or within 10 metres of a junction.

The difficulties faced by objector 2 in respect of the private ownership of land used for parking by the residents of the maisonettes are not uncommon where maisonettes exist above a fairly busy shopping parade. It is clearly intended that residents should park within this private area and indeed do so at present. There is no indication that this practice is to be

Objector

Objection

Officer's Comments

stopped in the foreseeable future. Certainly if the circumstances change then the Traffic Regulation Order can be reviewed.

It is considered that the value and future resale value of the properties will not be affected

2

Mr Gwyn Jenkins

14 Ridgeway Parade

Church Crookham

(i)

See objection 1 (ii) above.

See comments for objection 1 (ii) above.

(ii)

That restricted parking is unnecessary as vehicles rarely park in the areas proposed for prohibited waiting.

The proposal to restrict parking in Ridgeway Parade follows a request from traders in October 2000 to consider limiting waiting to two hours due to their concern over all-day parking and obstruction of buses. The prohibition of waiting has been proposed to prevent any displaced parking occurring in areas where it will cause a hazard or nuisance. It also serves to provide for better visibility at junctions and unhindered manoeuvring space for buses.

(iii)

That there is no provision for resident permits and the car park is in private ownership with residents having no parking rights.

Hampshire County Council's policy on residents' parking schemes is that consideration will be given if "not more than 50% of the residents have parking readily available within the curtilage of their property or allocated to that property in the form of private garages or other parking space".

All the properties within The Verne have off-street parking facilities.

Objector

Objection

Officer's Comments

(iv)

(v)

That there is no justification for the restriction on the basis that a traffic warden would have to travel some distance from the town centre to provide enforcement.

That other shopping parades are not subject to restricted parking.

An important factor considered when investigating the suitability of a site for a Traffic Regulation Order is the likely effectiveness and the resource required to ensure compliance. In this case, a restriction on waiting is likely to be largely self-enforcing due to a good vehicle turnaround. The Police are supporting the proposal on this basis.

Restricted parking will be considered for the other nearby shopping parades if so wished by the local community. It is not intended that any restrictions be progressed as a matter of course.