SMI Parking Controls Discussion – 16 Feb 18 – Notes

Short Notes of the public meeting held at St. Mary’s Island Community Centre,

Friday 16th February 7pm – 8.10pm regarding:

Proposals for Parking Controls on SMI

In Attendance: circa 150 residents, Ward Councillors Andrew Mackness & Habib Tejan, Mark Johnson & Dean Gibbs of Medway Council Parking Design Team, PCSO Angie Saunders, and several SMIRA Directors.

Meeting Chair: David Taylor, SMIRA Chairman. Note taker: Allan Sneller, SMIRA V/Chair.

[For ease of reading and comprehension I have deliberately merged the spoken presentations together with the responses to some audience questions. Words in (soft brackets) are added by me for clarity only. AS]

Opening:David Taylor explained that Medway Council (MC) had been invited by SMIRA to address residents’ regular concerns aired over several years around parking issues arising from non-residential, and inconsiderate/obstructive parking. A scoping survey 18 months ago had indicated a growing concern and triggered a bid for funding to commence a formal consultation process with every household on SMI. This public meeting is the beginning of that process to confirm if there remains sufficient public concern to justify the expense of this Formal Consultation.

Presentation: Mr Mark Johnson (MC Parking Design) and Mr Dean Gibbs (an expert parking design consultant specifically bought in for this project) delivered a short slide presentation outlining the proposed solution.

  • This project has been triggered by SMI residents themselves, and is not being ‘imposed’ on us. In addition to SMIRAs request, Mark has received numerous direct complaints from SMI residents over the past few years; hence the limited scoping study undertaken in 2016 that confirmed that there was a genuine requirement, and was used to justify funding this project;
  • Experiences in other parts of Medway have shown that the ‘displacement effect’ should not be under-estimated. Dean recommended that the whole of SMI should be subject to the Permit Scheme for two main reasons; enforcement in the southern sectors of SMI will push the problem northwards, AND the effect of opening up the secondary route onto SMI (Leviathan Way – Bascule Bridge – Westerly Way and Azure sectors) will attract opportunistic parking from non-islanders visiting Dockside attractions/dog-walkers etc.
  • The prosed scheme is based on experience and lessons learnt from the management of MC’s other 20+ Controlled Parking Zones;
  • All standards of enforcement, fees, fines etc. is consistent across Medway and can be found on MC’s website
  • Covering SMI in lots of yellow lines and associated street signage was ruled out early-on as it would be unsightly on SMI, and experience shows that it can often lead to confusion and continued non-compliance with the scheme;
  • Should residents approve (subject to results of formal consultation questionnaire) the proposal is to make the entire network of MC adopted roads on SMI subject to a Parking Permit Area. This legally cannot cover private or shared ownership driveways etc.
  • Visibly this proposal has minimal environmental/ascetic impact and is enforced by significant signage on HMS Chatham Bridge (and eventually the lifting Bascule Bridge at Leviathan Way) leaving drivers in no doubt that parking on SMI is absolutely prohibited without displaying a valid SMI-coded Residents Parking Permit. This would be reinforced by sympathetically sized small repeater signs dotted around SMI on existing lamp-posts etc. (please see slide of example signage above).
  • The enforcement period will be 24/7 to avoid confusion and doubt. ‘No Permit – No Parking’.
  • Permits are ONLY required if residents wish to park their vehicle/s on an Adopted MC i.e. public) road. Permits are not required for parking on private driveways, carparks, private shared access areas, or any ‘off-road’ parking.
  • Permits may only be purchased by bona-fide SMI residents, and proof of residency must be provided before purchase (and checked against MC databases e.g. Council Tax etc.).
  • Only vehicles registered to SMI postal addresses can purchase Residents Permits. Company Car/Lease-hire ‘owners’ will need to produce, in addition to proof of residency, a headed letter from their respective business/lease-hire company confirming that they have permission to bring their vehicles home to an SMI address.
  • Residents from the area south of HMS Chatham Bridge (the basins) will NOT be permitted to buy these permits.
  • There is a wide range of Parking Permit types available, and details can be found on MC Parking website.
  • For example; an Annual Resident’s Permit is currently £28/year. They are allocated to a specific vehicle registration and are NOT transferable, however there is no limit to number of resident’s permits your address can purchase. Alternatively there are Annual Visitor’s Permits (£34/year) which are transferable, or booklets of Day Visitor Permits of £1/day sold in bundles of 20. Only genuine SMI residents will be able to purchase any variety of Permit (and fraud/abuse will attract stiff sanctions). Please refer to MC website re full list of Permit Options and prices.
  • Enforcement is by MC Parking Enforcement Officers who issue Fixed Penalty Notices (‘tickets’) to vehicles not displaying the requisite Permit. The associate fines/fees are on MC Website
  • Generally, fines are £70 (reduced to £35 if paid within 14 days).
  • Enforcement Officers patrol between 07:00 and 01:00 (18 hours) daily, and can respond to residents with specific parking problems. They have mobile telephone (07718-130962) and email () contact whilst on mobile patrol.
  • The rules for holders of MC issued Blue (Disability) Badges remain the same as always.
  • Cllr Mackness emphasised that dangerous and obstructive parking on Adopted Roads remains strictly a Police matter via the 101 phone system.
  • Consideration will be provided in the Consultation for appropriate parking for non-SMI parents’ collection/dropping children off at our school. The Parking Design Team will meet with the school management to discuss the school’s proposals for expansion parking etc. (At SMIRA’s request, 15 school ‘drop-off’ spaces have already been earmarked by the developer at the assisted living units). There may be a need for a marked bay near the school specifically for this purpose (subject to consultation).
  • In response to questions from the floor Mark Johnson confirmed that the sale of permits etc. is not a “money making scheme” as suggested by some residents. The scheme must, by law be self-funded. In other parts of Medway where these schemes exist it typically takes around 10 years to ‘break-even’. (Costs are signage, legal costs of establishing the necessary Traffic Regulation Order, permit issuing, and salaries of additional enforcement officers etc.).
  • Timescales. In response to several questions Mark Johnson replied that he would report back to elected Council members and seek permission to proceed with the distribution of formal consultation packs, including questionnaires, to all SMI postal addresses. (There is a statutory minimum ‘dwell-time’ of 21 days for residents to complete and return these.)
  • MC also must consult with statutory bodies (police, fire, ambo, etc.)
  • Cllr Mackness set Mark/MC officials the challenge of completing this Consultation process within 3 months, and this timeline appeared to be supported by the majority of attendees.
  • It was confirmed that the scheme will only be implemented by MC if the majority of SMI residents want it (via the Consultation Questionnaires).
  • Finally, the meeting closed with an informal show of hands for the scheme as suggested to the meeting:

[As judged by A.S. (for) and a fellow SMIRA Director S.G. (against) as roughly :-

For the proposal: 70%

Against the proposal: 30%

Many thanks to everyone who gave up their Friday evening to join us, especially Mark Johnson and Dean Gibbs.

End.

Postscript:

As soon as SMIRA receives further info from MC re the Consultation Packs we will advise via email, SMIRA website and social media.

It’s important that every household engages in this consultation process as the majority view will prevail.

Thanks for your support on this issue,

The SMIRA Board of Directors.

A.S.

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