BOROUGH OF POOLE
TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY GROUP – THURSDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2007
REPORT OF HEAD OF TRANSPORTATION SERVICES
PETITION – PALMER ROAD AREA
1.Purpose of Report
1.1To consider a petition requesting residents only parking in Palmer Road, Connell Road, Mellstock Road, Shottsford Road and Marllot Road.
2.Recommendations
2.1It is recommended that the petitioners’ requests be noted but that they be informed that the Council could not justify introducing parking controls in the area.
3.Information
3.1A petition has been received, signed by 214 signatories asking the Council to give consideration to a residents only parking scheme in Palmer Road, Connell Road, Mellstock Road, Shottsford Road and Marllot Road. The residents show concern about unacceptable levels of parking causing safety concerns for school children and congestion caused by commuter parking for Poole centre and local businesses. They also refer to problems of noise, air pollution and inconvenience to the residents.
3.2Transportation Services has also been contacted by Poole Housing Partnership expressing parking concerns at the Sherrin Road Elderley Persons Development which is opposite the allotments. They are experiencing problems of increased parking in Sherrin Road from residents and non-residents and would like consideration of a 2hr limit on one side of the road (without resident permits) and no parking on the other side. Similar comments have also been received from Simmonds Close regarding parking.
3.3Existing parking controls apply throughout most of the area surrounding the Town Centre. The controls were introduced for the following reasons:
i)To reduce peak hour traffic volumes on the approaches to the town centre by encouraging town centre workers to consider alternative ways of getting to work.
It is considered that there would be no appreciable reduction in peak hour traffic volumes if parking controls were to be introduced here.
ii)To allow opportunities for residents in the areas close to the town, in areas which generally have low levels of off street parking provision, to park near their homes during the day.
3.4Most properties in the roads concerned have access to off street parking and experience shows it would be hard to justify to local residents the imposition of a resident parking scheme. Appendix B illustrates how few residents have previously decided to buy permits in other areas remote from the Town Centre but actually closer than this location currently being considered.
3.5 Residents experiencing commuter parking and having difficulties accessing their off-street parking is not, in itself, sufficient justification for introducing residents parking schemes. Many residential accesses on roads around the Borough experience this type of problem, and as a result the Council has a policy that parking restrictions are not introduced to protect private accesses. The roads in the area are nominally 7.3m wide and it is appropriate to accommodate parking on both sides of residential roads of this width. Introducing any form of parking control will inevitably reduce the amount of parking space available in the road and it this would not necessarily be supported by the majority of residents.
3.6Experience indicates that resident parking schemes tend to displace parking to other uncontrolled roads nearby. If controls were introduced in Palmer Road, Connell Road, Mellstock Road, Shottsford Road and Marllot Road, complaints would undoubtedly be received from those people living in Stanley Green Road, Vicarage Road and Milestone Road. An increasing number of roads would have to be included if parking controls were introduced. Introducing parking controls in individual streets would merely displace the parking into other roads nearby, while forcing very local employees and tradesmen to park further away. Experience indicates that in residential areas remote from the employment centre there is more opposition to parking control schemes as residents see less reason for having restrictions imposed on them. It is difficult to justify introducing parking controls in one road when this merely displaces parking into other similar roads nearby.
3.7The junctions of School Lane and Melstock Road with Palmer Road are already protected by waiting restrictions. In addition the Area Committee has approved further restrictions at the junction of Palmer Road with Connell Road for inclusion in next years programme. No injury accidents have been reported in the unrestricted sections of the roads in this area for the last 3 years and it would therefore be difficult to justify introducing parking controls here when there are similar conditions in many other roads throughout the borough.
Julian McLaughlin
Head of Transportation Services
Appendix A – Location Plan
Appendix B - Permit uptake in previous resident parking phases
Name and Telephone Number of Officer Contact: Steve Dean (01202) 262071
TAG081107T3F
APPENDIX B
Sales of Resident Parking permits in a sample of streets in the Town Centre and Heckford Park area.
Road / No of Properties / No of permits issued / average number of permits per propertyStanley Road / 51 / 45 / 0.88
Kingston Road / 95 / 65 / 0.68
Market Street / 32 / 15 / 0.47
Garland Road / 138 / 60 / 0.43
Stokes Avenue / 54 / 17 / 0.31
Hunt Road / 80 / 22 / 0.28
Linthorpe Road / 43 / 10 / 0.23
Denby Road / 20 / 3 / 0.15
Brailswood Road / 38 / 1 / 0.03
1