Agenda Item 4.3
Regulatory and Other Committee
Open Report on behalf of Richard Wills, Executive Director for Environment
& Economy
Report to:
Planning and Regulation Committee
Date:
13 April 2015
King Edward Street, Sleaford – Proposed Introduction
of No Waiting At Any Time (NWAAT) Parking
Restrictions
No
Subject:
Decision
Reference:
Key decision?
Summary:
This report details the objections received to the proposed restrictions on King
Edward Street following both informal and formal consultation with residents and
formal consultation with statutory consultees, including Sleaford Town Council
and the local Members. Objections were received from residents following the
informal and formal consultation but, as neither the Town Council nor the local
Members objected, the proposal was formally advertised prior to being presented
to this Committee.
Recommendation(s):
It is recommended that the Committee agrees to overrule the objections and the
traffic regulation order is introduced as advertised.
1. Background
1.1
Concerns have been raised by County Council officers regarding the
parking situation on King Edward Street, Sleaford and how this parking
affects visibility, traffic flows and access. Proposals for Castle Causeway will
also affect these issues once implemented so this proposal is a proactive
proposal taking account of the expected displaced parking. Off-street
parking in the King Edward Street area is limited as the majority of frontage
properties do not have driveways or garages and therefore have to use the
street for their daily and overnight parking needs. Some of this parking is
inappropriate and does cause visibility issues as previously described and,
although it is recognised that there is an on-street parking need, the main
priority is the safety for all highway users and this parking therefore needs to
be controlled and restricted. The proposals also protect the approach to the
level crossing where parking has been seen despite the narrowing of the
road width and the danger this causes in this area. It is recognised however
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that parking is required for Network Rail employees who are regular visitors
to their assets and an area of hardened verge has been provided for this
purpose and this use will be highlighted within the order as it is within the
highway area subject to the restriction.
1.2
King Edward Street is part of the main route into the western side of
Sleaford town centre, going over a railway level crossing and joining Castle
Causeway as the main thoroughfare into the town from the southern side of
the railway line (Appendix A). It is totally residential and currently has a new
residential housing estate being built on its west side, just prior to the level
crossing. On-street parking exists as can be seen in the photographs but will
increase as displaced parking from the Castle Causeway proposals
increases the need.
1.3
This proposal therefore goes hand in hand with the proposals to significantly
restrict parking on Castle Causeway, which are also being presented to this
Committee. Once the Castle Causeway restrictions have been agreed and
approved by this Committee the displaced parking will impact on the King
Edward Street area, deeming the proposed restrictions on King Edward
Street a main priority as on–street parking will increase.
1.4
The informal consultation was delivered to those who could be most
affected as a joint proposal, allowing all residents of both King Edward
Street and Castle Causeway to give their views on both proposals as one
affected the other (Appendix B). The formal consultation (Appendix C) and
advertisement (Appendix D) for King Edward Street was then carried out as
a stand-alone proposal.
1.5
North Kesteven District Council did consult on a Residents Parking Scheme
in this area prior to these proposals being formally consulted on but they did
not receive enough interest from residents to make it viable for them to take
this forward.
2. Initial Proposals and Informal Consultation
2.1
Informal consultation took place between 23rd September 2013 and 11th
November 2013 and was a joint consultation for King Edward Street and
Castle Causeway, as previously described.
2.2
This informal consultation raised the following objections to the proposals on
King Edward Street. All objectors were written to upon receipt of their
correspondence.
1 I am rather worried that more drivers will decide to park outside my
property. I did indicate that I would be prepared to pay for a parking
permit.
2 I had hoped to see a reduction in double yellow lines to make parking
easier for all. Putting double yellow lines along the Spriggs Close side
and opposite will turn the approach to the level crossing into a high
speed rat run.
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3 Cars provide their own traffic calming measures. The more cars there
are the slower they go.
4 Introducing parking in the Spriggs Close area will make parking very
difficult for elderly residents and the people that need to see them.
5 Please reduce the proposed length of the lines in-front of numbers 14
and 16 and cut back the length in-front of numbers 13, 19 and 21.
Addressing the objections above, the following comments are made to the
respective objections.
1 There will be displaced parking from Castle Causeway and this is partly
why the changes are proposed. Visibility at all the junctions needs to be
maintained to protect all highway users. North Kesteven District Council
is not proposing to implement a Residents Parking Scheme in this area
as, when consulted, they did not receive sufficient interest from residents
to make a scheme viable.
2 The approaches to the level crossing have had some inappropriate
parking on them and this needs to be controlled. The crossing is a single
vehicle width crossing under signed priority control and this is well
respected by drivers.
3 It is widely agreed that the best form of traffic calming is parked cars but
the loss of on-street parking on King Edward Street, including side roads,
equates to approximately 10 vehicles. It is better to have the safe
junction areas rather than cars parked up to the junction. Also, displaced
parking will be seen, from those that currently park in Castle Causeway,
so it is expected that the daily numbers parking on King Edward Street
will increase overall, thus keeping the traffic calming effect.
4 Spriggs Close does have the benefit of parking to the rear of the
properties and on the Close itself. The current inappropriate parking on
King Edward Street on the approaches to the level crossing outside of
some of these properties does cause an obstruction and does need
restricting. Emergency vehicles will be allowed to park within the
restriction when necessary.
5 The proposals have been reduced in front of numbers 14 and 16 after
due consideration. The existing restrictions shown on the plan were
found to be incorrect outside numbers 19 and 21 as the existing double
yellow lines only go as far as number 19. There was an error on the
original plan therefore. No changes to this part of the restriction are
proposed as the visibility here is limited due to the layout of the road.
3. Current proposal and consultation
3.1
The current proposal is to introduce a No Waiting At Any Time (NWAAT)
order on King Edward Street on the west and east approaches to the level
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crossing, the junction with Spriggs Close and the junction with Queen
Street. All existing restrictions will remain as they are now.
3.2
The formal consultation took place between 18th July 2014 and 30th
September 2014 with letters being sent to the residents immediately
affected by the proposals, statutory consultees and local Members
(Appendix C). A formal advertisement was then posted between 26th
November 2014 and 24th December 2014 (Appendix D).
4. Objections
4.1
The formal consultation attracted three objections and the advertisement
received no objections. All objectors were written to upon receipt of their
correspondence. The objections are summarised below.
1 You will create further problems for the residents. Those with two cars
will now have to seek new positions on the street to park. They will all be
forced to park outside someone else's house. These proposals will lead
to many disgruntled homeowners – it will mean a race home each night
to get a space. The best and easiest way to solve the problem is to have
Residents Car Parking Permits. Those that don't reside on the street will
have to park somewhere else.
2 The parking restrictions will severely inconvenience residents, pushing
cars out of sight of houses, where they have previously been the target
of regular vandalism. It will also make it harder to access our houses.
The proposals will increase speeds on the road and these increased
speeds will surely lead to more accidents and possible fatalities.
3 The parked cars provided a natural traffic calming measure. If you stop
people parking then people will speed. Not being able to park outside my
own property will cause me stress.
Addressing these objections, the following comments are made to the respective
objections.
1 As previously mentioned, North Kesteven District Council have chosen
not to implement a Residents Parking Scheme at this location due to the
lack of interest. Although there will be a small loss of on-street space on
King Edward Street this will not significantly disadvantage the residents
to the extent suggested. For example, in the Queen Street area there will
be a loss of four spaces on King Edward Street. If current parking was as
per guidance seen in The Highway Code, this parking loss would not
exist as residents would not park so close to the junction anyway.
2 It is unlikely that the parking habits will be severely affected by the
proposals as the loss of on-street space is minimal. The displaced
parking will no doubt use some of the space during the day and the
priority control will remain the same at the level crossing so the speed of
vehicles will be very similar as it is now.
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3 It is widely agreed that the best form of traffic calming is parked cars but
the loss of on-street parking on King Edward Street, including side roads,
equates to approximately 10 vehicles. It is better to have the safe
junction areas rather than cars parked up to the junction. Also, displaced
parking will be seen, from those that currently park in Castle Causeway,
so it is expected that the daily numbers parking on King Edward Street
will increase overall, thus keeping the traffic calming effect.
5. Support
5.1
Support was given to these proposals from local Members:
County Councillor Hagues gave written confirmation that said he was happy
with these proposals.
County Councillor Allan gave written confirmation that he supported these
proposals.
6. Comments
6.1
King Edward Street is a residential street with cul-de-sac and through roads
off it on both sides. It forms part of a route through the west side of Sleaford
that connects the southern end of the town, via a level crossing, to the west
side of the main shopping centre. Residents and visitors do park here and
walk into town but there is currently considerable space left on-street during
the normal working day for workers to also park here.
6.2
The current restrictions reflect the current usage but, with essential changes
to the current parking restrictions proposed on Castle Causeway, displaced
parking will take place and will no doubt move on to King Edward Street.
This can be catered for on King Edward Street but protection of certain
areas of the street is required to ensure visibility is maintained and the
possibility of obstructions is removed.
7. Conclusion
7.1
Taking account of the needs of the residents is important when considering
any traffic regulation order proposal but it has to be recognised that the
changing needs of all residents, workers and visitors to a town the size of
Sleaford means that on-street parking has to be managed and controlled to
try to give the most appropriate and best outcome achievable for all highway
users.
7.2
With this in mind, the reasons for implementing these proposals outweigh
the objections put forward and it is for these reasons that officers
recommend the objections are overruled and the scheme is implemented as
consulted on and advertised.
a) Policy Proofing Actions Required
n/a
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Appendices
These are listed below and attached at the back of the report
Appendix A
Location Plan
Appendix B
Consultation proposals
Appendix C
Consultation letter
Appendix D
Advertisement details
Background Papers
No background papers within Section 100D of the Local Government Act 1972
were used in the preparation of this report.
This report was written by Rowan Smith, who can be contacted on 01522 782070
or [email protected].
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