Petition - Dangerous Parking issues in Avenue Road, Lymington, S041 9GJ

Thank you for your recent petition regarding parking issues on this length of Avenue Road leading to the bowling club in Lymington.

We acknowledge congestion at school start and finish times is a common issue. It is recognised that difficulties can be experienced for short periods on term time weekdays. In these situations, where drivers are making quick stops to drop off and collect children, parking regulations are often flouted as civil enforcement resource cannot be provided at a level to ensure compliance. Enforcement at schools is not a sustainable solution in the long term, so Hampshire County Council actively encourage parents through the school to consider more active travel to schools through its School Travel Plan programme.

Lymington Infant and Junior Schools have been approached and the junior school have made huge inroads into reducing car usage, increasing rates of walking, and increasing use of the Park and Stride. There is scope to further reduce reliance on the car for transport at both schools, but progress has been temporarily halted by the school in response to the Pandemic. The travel planning team will be contacting the school again to book in meetings to discuss this further.

Currently we must prioritise our limited resources for new restrictions, to those areas where parking is a safety issue or is aimed to deliver parking schemes where costs can be recovered. There is always a need to look at where displaced parking may migrate to. I can confirm that we investigate all safety concerns raised with us, before replying to you, by examining the police database of injury collisions to identify whether a location should be a priority for further investigation. We also consider reports of minor collisions not resulting in injury, where we are aware of them, and other issues recorded on our highway enquiry database. In the five years between May 2016 and May 2021 no reports are recorded. The accident mentioned in September 2018 may not have had a reportable casualty to be placed on the Police record.

For residents parking zones to work they need to be operated on a full cost recovery basis, given most properties in your road have a drive and garage very few permits would be sold, thus rendering the permit scheme unviable. Providing double yellow lines on one side of the road to restrict some parking and to ensure access to properties is maintained or single yellow lines to restrict parking at certain times may be a solution. However, as we have already stated our limited resources and funding mean that we are currently prioritising our safety led programme. We are looking to add some schemes to a future programme in each district so this location will be considered, but we cannot guarantee its inclusion once the prioritisation process has been undertaken.

I appreciate this may not be the response you were hoping for, but I hope it clarifies the situation.

Yours sincerely

Cllr Russell Oppenheimer
Executive Member for Highways Operations