Parking is back on the agenda in Hanover and Elm Grove after a sample survey indicated support for a controlled parking zone (CPZ) in some roads.
The Hanover and Elm Grove local action team (LAT) asked people in a handful of streets whether they would support residents parking to see whether a wider survey was required.
In streets between Islingword Road and Albion Hill, there was significant support – although north of Elm Grove, the opposite was true.
The LAT said the survey was done completely independently of the council, after several people brought up the issue.
In a blog post it said: “Some people were expressing a concern that the council might come back quite soon with another consultation on parking.
“Also in some areas people felt the parking has got worse as we are now surrounded by other controlled parking zones, and we are one of the few places people can park free for AMEX, shopping or put their second cars if they live in a parking zone.
“Other streets were not getting rubbish collected because of parking and some people could not use the pavement.
“The council are likely to be presenting ideas and proposals, but we felt it was better to come up with our own proposals “a residents plan” instead, if this is what residents want us to do.”
More surveys are now being carried out around the area, and if enough people express an interest, a working group could be put together to draw up a proposal.
The LAT said: “If the working group agree on a proposal this will then be double checked with residents and if residents support the ideas and wish us to present them to the council then we shall do so.
“We shall also ask all prospective council candidates to support the residents plan before the elections in May BEFORE they are voted in!”
The area was last consulted on a CPZ in 2010, when 75% of residents voted against the plans, making it one of only three areas in recent years to turn down a scheme.
The Craven Vale area recently voted against a parking scheme and the Hove Park area voted against about five years ago. The Poets Corner area also originally voted against a scheme back in 2003 but wanted the scheme the second time it was consulted.
Since the original Hanover and Elm Grove CPZ plans were turned down, there has been a crackdown on pavement parking on Elm Grove, and streets in Richmond Heights south of Hanover have been given residents parking.
Double yellow lines are due to be painted on a handful of junctions such as Montreal Street and Albion Hill.
New housing schemes for hundreds of students with little or no parking have also been approved at the London Road Co-Op, the old Buxtons furniture store on Ditchling Road opposite the Level and Circus Street.
If you would like to help with the ongoing survey, details are at the bottom of the blog post.
What do you think about the plans? Have your say below.
In 2010 I voted against a CPZ, not being a car owner, I am not obsessed with parking outside my house nor do I like the beggar my neighbour attitude of CPZs.
However, this time I would vote for a CPZ as I can see it is the only way to clear junctions to make them safe to cross, get rid of cars and vans dumped in the area from neighbouring CPZs and stop selfish locals dumping vehicles, like the bloke by me with 4 rusty old vans and a couple of cars! It is the selfish minority as ever that is forcing us into this position.
I would happily pay for a permit if it meant I could park somewhere near my house (top of Albion Hill) and it put an end to the idiots blocking corners. Parking is an absolute nightmare at the moment and the morning commuters hunting for parking spaces makes it dangerous for kids going to school.
Those results aren’t surprising. The streets with higher percentages are affected by the Amex workers, etc, whereas further over towards Elm Grove it’s not so bad. I’m all for a CPZ as I am fed up of not being able to park anywhere near my house but all they do is push the problem further over. Once the Lewes Road triangle gets parking restrictions all the roads north of that will suffer. Not sure there’s ever going to be a solution which makes everyone happy.
Thank you for the publicity Jo and excellent map! If you want to see all the detail and the FAQs in full please go to our Community Survey Parking area http://heglat.wordpress.com/survey/
email heglatters@gmail.com to be added to the newsletter
The next meeting is October 6th – The hanover pub back room – 7pm.
The main topic is Houses of multiple occupation and student houses but there will also be an update on the Elm Grove Parking situation.
Why is there no enforcement of illegal parking in non residents parking areas? I might be for residents parking but from past experience I still would not be able to park when I come home from work at night, as the restrictions would only be in force during the day when I am away working. If a resident is able to get a permit (as it is not gauranteed that all resident who apply will get one, in which case you will be forced to park even further from your home) they will be charged a couple of hundred pounds EVERY year for ever more but may still not be able to park as normally far more permits are sold than there are spaces.
Hi. Bit late to this conversation but there has been some activity on the Hanover Community Facebook page over the last couple of weeks so prompted to comment. I voted for the CPZ the first time. The way I see it, if I have a car and live in an inner city area then I should be happy to pay for the convenience of parking near my house (unless there is a need to have a free designated parking space for disability of course). Call it another tax – which I’m happy to pay as a someone using resources in a community that can ill afford to spend money on car owners. The situation in my street, Grove Street, which is next to the new CPZ in John Street has become impossible. The fact that we cannot park our cars anywhere near our houses is relevant and extremely frustrating, but the current situation affects non car owners adversely too. Our streets are crowded and in the morning, polluting commuter cars circle like hawks while our children try to cross roads to walk to school. People park unsafely, and are occasionally aggressive and abusive with each other over the rare spaces. I don’t buy the objection that a CPZ in our area pushes the problem out beyond Elm Grove. We are used as a car park by people who would find alternative means of getting to work, or shop, if they couldn’t park in our community. They wouldn’t park 20 minutes walk away – they have driven because it’s convenient to park for free so close to the Amex building or town. Our street is now also full of Saturday shoppers. I realise the situation is systemic and complicated but I have come to the conclusion that some of the broader issues around car usage and public transport in Brighton are issues that need tackling in the longer term and will not be solved by a principal led stand against the CPZ. In the meantime our quality of life, safety, and sense of community should be prioritised.
Whatever happened to Hanover? Visitor and commuter car traffic and parking is completely out of control. The area is dominated by HMO’s (many unlicensed) with students who litter the area with rubbish, vomit on the streets that our children need to walk down the next day and generally treat our community with no respect. Essentially this decline has been caused by a weak and ineffective local authority who are apparently interested in the environment. I say apparently because they have failed to realise that for the residents of Hanover, our environment, that which surrounds us has been allowed to become polluted by cars, student noise and rubbish. What is quite sad is that my heart is with the principles of the Green Party. In my case however, they have failed miserably. They are not working in my interests as they have failed to consider my environment. With only weeks until the general and local elections I will express my views through the ballot box.
The “parking consultation” in my area is as corrupt a process as I have ever seen. The Govia consultation on Preston Park station was very similar. The consultation documents that I have seen did not permit a negative response. They were worded to steer the responder to write in one way or another that they need restrictions. I wanted to take the LPA to court for undue process. In my area the consultation was immediately after the neighbouring prp areas were getting restricted, and then after a ridiculous several hundreds of thousands were spent from our council tax to wipe out 30 spaces out of 40 by putting in a second path literally adjacent an existing one that has served perfectly well the bus stop the first one is connected to. Outside my house they’ve restricted parking by about 1/3 and then consulted right after. (by added blocks,changed curbs, added double yellows and all preceded by the neighbouring “zones” getting live restrictions. Do they think we are idiots or just powerless? The situation in town could be saved by making buses cheap. My area was fine before they forced the neighbouring community to pay (Preston pk only wanted vans gone) and then don’t the local authority make buses cheap? This must be the most expensive public transport in the world in the uk – and within the uk brighton and hove buses are by a country mile the most expensive.
Not all amex employees are looking for free parking,most would happily park and pay if there were more eleven hour bays. Our working patterns don’t allow us the time or flexibility to use the four hour bays and move the cars. Many of us have parental responsibility s taking children to school and can’t do this because the bus services don’t intersect and there is just one tiny park and ride in Brighton.
As a resident in Zone V, here are my observations;
* My street now has half as many cars parked in it.
* At any time of the day, there are spaces free for residents and visitors.
* All of my neighbours (yes we speak to each other) who needed a permit, have one, many two.
I have not heard a single negative comment from those who live in the street, the scheme has made it a more pleasant place to live here.
Sorry, I realise its easy to criticise and much more difficult to praise, but my observation so far is that it has been a remarkable success.
Rob