Update - Outcome of review - 16 March 2012

Following the informal consultation carried out in September/October 2011, The results of the consultation along with your views were presented in a report to the Street Management Advisory Committee and the Cabinet Member on 23 January 2012. In line with the results of the feedback received during the review, the Cabinet Member agreed not to make changes.

See also

Update - Review of Zone GC - 16 September 2011

Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) GC was implemented in February 2011 following extensive consultation with residents and businesses in Graveney Area. GC CPZ operates Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 6.30pm.

The Council agreed that further consultation should be conducted to determine the success of GC CPZ after it had been operational for six months. Site observations indicate that more parking spaces have been made available since the zone was introduced.

The results of this consultation will help us determine the success of GC CPZ to date.

Let us know your views

We would ask residents within the existing zone GC only to complete and submit an electronic questionnaire with any comments or suggestions by 7 October 2011. The online system has been created to keep costs down and allow the Council to process your views more efficiently. Alternatively you can complete and return your prepaid questionnaire (no stamp required), with any comments or suggestions you may have by 7 October 2011. Only one questionnaire per household within the existing zone GC will be accepted.

We regret that due to the number of responses received during a public consultation of this size it will not be possible to individually reply to each respondent. We welcome your comments on this proposal, which will be noted and included within the proposed measures where appropriate. It should be noted that subject to the responses received, a recommendation may be made to only include those roads where there is a majority in support of the proposals.

What happens next

It is envisaged that the results of the consultation along with officers’ recommendations will be reported to the Street Management Advisory Committee before a decision is made by the Cabinet Member for Environmental Sustainability and Regeneration. Once a decision is made you will be informed accordingly.

See also

Update - Implementation - 19 November 2010

The results of the statutory consultation carried out in June/July 2010, on the proposed ‘GC’ Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) were presented along with officers’ recommendations in a report to the Street Management Advisory Committee and the Cabinet Member for Environmental Sustainability and Regeneration on 5 October 2010. After careful consideration a decision has been made to proceed with the implementation of the proposals as shown on the linked implementation newsletter below.

The report and the Council’s decision can be viewed using the link below.

We would like to thank you for your participation in the consultation process and for your feedback.

See also

Update - Statutory Consultation - 25 June 2010

The informal consultation carried out in October/November 2009, on the proposal to introduce a controlled parking zone in the Seely Road Area, resulted in a total of 181 questionnaires returned, representing a response rate of 24.3%. 75.7% of respondents indicated that they currently have parking problems in their roads compared to 19.9% who feel that they do not.

Residents were asked if they would support a CPZ if the neighbouring road/s or part of their road were included in a CPZ. A majority of 58.6% support the concept of a CPZ, compared to 33.1% who do not, with 8.3% undecided. A majority of 59.7% of respondents indicated that they would like to be included if their neighbouring roads or part of their road was in support of a CPZ. In response to the preferred days of operation, 40.9% support Monday to Saturday compared to 40.3% who prefer Monday to Friday. The remaining 18.8% have no preference or do not support a CPZ. With regards to the preferred hours of operation, 48.6% support 8.30 am – 6.30pm; 15.5% prefer 11am – 3pm, whilst 17.1% support 11am – 12pm. The remaining18.8% had no preference or do not support a CPZ.

For further details please refer to the linked informal consultation results table below.

The results of the consultation along with your views were presented in a report to the Street Management Advisory Committee on 12 January 2010.

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Traffic Management made the following decisions:

  • To proceed with a statutory consultation to introduce ‘GC’ CPZ to include Ascot Road, Boscombe Road, Bruce Road, Cromer Road, Grenfell Road, Inglemere Road, Sirdar Road, and parts of Links Road, Gorringe Park Avenue and Seely Road, with the hours of operation Monday to Friday, between 8.30am and 6.30pm. It was also agreed to include property nos. 1 to 12, Inglemere Court in London Road and 271 to 313 Mitcham Road. This would allow these residents to obtain the relevant permit for the zone, should the CPZ be implemented.
  • To proceed with a statutory consultation and the publication of the relevant draft Traffic Management Orders (TMOs) on the Council’s intention to introduce "At Any Time" waiting restrictions at key locations, such as junctions; bends; at the turning heads of cul-de-sac; and other specific locations.

See also

  • Cabinet Member's decision
  • Committee Report (Informal Consultation)

Inner Area

Outer Area

Informal Consultation - 7 October 2009

Merton council is proposing to introduce a Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) in Ascot Road, Boscombe Road, Bruce Road, Cromer Road, Grenfell Road, Inglemere Road, Sirdar Road, and parts of Links Road, Gorringe Park Avenue and Seely Road. This proposal is in response to representations and a petition received from local residents who are experiencing parking difficulties in their road(s). This issue was also discussed at a residents’ meeting in February 2009 and it was agreed that the Council would carry out informal consultation to seek your views on proposal to control parking in the area (see plan attached). Generally, residents feel that the problem is being caused by:

  • Commuters who park and complete their journey by public transport from either Tooting Station or working in nearby businesses.
  • Existence of nearby Wandsworth CPZs displacing parking into the surrounding area.
  • Residents and staff of nearby businesses within the neighbouring CPZs avoiding parking charges.

What is a Controlled Parking Zone or CPZ?

A Controlled Parking Zone is an area where parking controls are introduced to protect the parking needs of residents and their visitors, as well as those of local businesses. Parking bays are marked on the carriageway to indicate to motorists where they can park. Yellow line restrictions are also introduced to improve safety by removing dangerous or obstructive parking. In a CPZ the operational times for the single yellow lines are indicated on signs as you enter the zone. In some cases there may be single yellow lines that operate at different times and these must be signed separately. Double yellow line restrictions do not require signs. In the absence of loading restrictions you may stop on a yellow line to load or unload goods for a limited period of time.

All parking places within a CPZ are individually signed to ensure that motorists are aware of the operational times and conditions. This ensures that the bays are fully enforceable. To help reduce the number of new posts required for these signs, every effort is made to ensure that signs are placed on existing street furniture, such as lamp columns or combined with other street signs.

In a CPZ, residents, local businesses and their visitors are given priority to use the appropriate parking places by displaying a valid permit in respect of that zone. However, a parking permit does not give the holder the right to park outside a particular premise, and does not guarantee an available parking space.

How will it work?

All road space in a CPZ is managed by the introduction of parking controls. Parking is only permitted where safety, access and sightlines are not compromised. It is therefore, normal practice to introduce double yellow lines at key locations such as at junctions, bends, turning heads and at specific locations along lengths of roads where parking would impede the passing of vehicles. It is also necessary to provide yellow lines (effective during the CPZ hours of operation or at any time) where the kerb is lowered, i.e. crossovers for driveways.

The key objective of managing parking is to reduce and control non-essential parking and assist the residents, short-term visitors and the local businesses. Within any CPZ, only those within the zone are entitled to permits. This means that long-term parkers will not be able to park within the permit bays during the operational times. An incremental pricing structure for second and subsequent permits also assists in minimising the number of permits issued to individual residents and help discourage unnecessary multiple car ownerships.

CPZs comprise of various types of parking bays such as permit holder bays (for use by resident or business permit holders and those with visitor permits); shared use bays (for permit holders and pay and display) and pay and display only bays (permits are not valid). Council appointed Civil Enforcement Officers will enforce the controls by issuing fines/Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) to vehicles parked in contravention of the restrictions. Outside the controlled times the restrictions are not enforced. However, Civil

Enforcement Officers will issue PCNs for any other parking contravention such as parking on double yellow lines, footways and parking across individual crossovers without the property owner’s consent.

The Council aims to reach a balance between the needs of the residents, businesses and the safety of all road users. In the event that the majority of those consulted do not support a CPZ in their road or area, and the Council agrees, officers may recommend that only the proposed double yellow lines identified at key locations are introduced to improve safety and maintain access.

Proposals

The Council is considering options relating to the operational hours and days of the proposed parking measures in your area.

The choice of operational hours are explained below:

  • All Day Controls (8.30am - 6.30pm): This will provide maximum protection to the residents by removing short and long-term parking. It will, however, be less flexible for residents and their visitors who will need to obtain a visitor’s permit from the resident they are visiting in order to park in the permit holder bays.
  • Part Time Controls (10am - 4pm): These operating times offer less restrictions on residents and their visitors than ‘all day’ controls. It is still effective in preventing long-term parkers. However, it may encourage short-term parking by non residents or businesses, such as shoppers outside the operating times. Residents returning from work later in the afternoon may find less available parking in their street due to this. The standard annual parking permit charges will still apply regardless of the hours the zone operates.
  • One-hour Control (11am - 12 noon): This minimum restriction offers more flexibility to residents and their visitors than the part time day controls, reducing the amount of visitors’ permits they would normally obtain, and is still effective in restricting long-term parking. However, it may encourage other short term parking outside the restricted time, by non-residents such as shoppers. Non residents may also work their way around the one-hour by moving their vehicles and then returning to park for the rest of the day. The standard annual parking permit charges will still apply regardless of the hours the zone operates.

The operational days include:

  • Monday to Friday: This will offer more flexibility to residents and visitors at weekends. However it may encourage non residents, especially shoppers, to park on Saturdays, therefore reducing available parking for your visitors. The standard annual parking permit charges will still apply regardless of the days the zone operates.
  • Monday to Saturday: This will protect parking by weekend shoppers. However it will be more restrictive on your visitors who will need a visitors permit from you in order to park during the controlled times.

The following parking measures are also proposed:

  • Double yellow lines at junctions, bends, ends of culs-de-sac and to create passing gaps. (This will improve safety and access at all times by reducing obstructive parking that is currently taking place)
  • Shared Use Pay and Display bays in Seely Road and Links Road near its junctions with Mitcham Road; Grenfell Road and Gorringe Park Avenue near its junctions with London Road and Ascot Road outside the Police Station, with a maximum stay of five hours. (This will increase parking provision in the area for use by pay and display customers whilst still maintaining parking facilities for permit holders)
  • Loading bay for goods vehicles only in Links Road near its junction with Mitcham Road and Grenfell Road and Inglemere Road near its junction with London Road, for a maximum of 40 minutes. (This will ensure suitable loading facilities for businesses at all times.)

Let us know your views

The informal consultation period for this proposal closed 30 October 2009.

We regret that due to the number of responses received during a public consultation it will not be possible to individually respond to each respondent. We welcome your comments on this proposal, which will be noted and included within the proposed measures where appropriate.

Exhibition invitation

A public exhibition about the proposals was held on Wednesday 21 October 2009 at 7pm at:

Links Primary School
Frinton Road
SW17 9EH

What happens next

It is envisaged that the results of the consultation along with officers’ recommendations will be reported to the Street Management Advisory Committee before a decision is made by the Cabinet Member for Planning and Traffic Management. Once a decision is made you will be informed accordingly.

See also

Contact us

Traffic & Highways
Merton Civic Centre
London Road
Morden
SM4 5DX
Fax: 020 8545 4865
Email: trafficandhighways@merton.gov.uk