To consider questions by members of the public of which the appropriate notice has been given to the Solicitor to the Council:
Decision:
Mr Lilley made a statement regarding garages in Spring Lane.
See minutes for full details.
Minutes:
Mr Lilley made a statement:
As one of the long term residents in the area surrounding the garages in Spring Lane, I would like to put our collective views forward to the full council.
I was sorry and very concerned that the tenancy of my garage that I had held for many years was terminated in the spring of this year.
Re-occurring problems at the chicane between house number 210 on the east side of the road, and number 155 on the west side of Spring lane, are not only dangerous but cause significant problems for commercial and emergency vehicles alike.
Before the garage block was built, I along with other residents that were lucky to own a car at this time, parked on spring lane normally outside our own house without too much trouble. Unfortunately other drivers are not so thoughtful and have in the past parked in such a way after dark that there is insufficient room for a large car, lorry /fire engine to get through. Some yellow lines at opposite sides of the road at this chicane may go some way to relieving the situation ensuring that access for emergency and other large vehicles is available.
The results of a previous survey some years ago on parking provision at the Galley Hill end of Spring Lane carried out by a local resident, who was acting under the neighbourhood watch scheme was un-successful as some of the residents on the odd numbers side of Spring Lane were at this time considering having paved driveways installed, with a second car owned by the same household more often than not parked on the road outside the house in question or in some cases in the now defunct garages. Myself along with a number of others had a garage in the block now closed and had no need for any change.
There will most certainly be an increase in traffic in this already highly congested area of Spring Lane if or when the area is re-developed, therefore I would also like to raise the following points.
Since the garages have been closed to us former tenants the pathway and grass verge on the east side of Spring Lane (Spring Fields Side) at peak times has become the preferred parking area for up to nineteen cars and vans, unfortunately a large number are parked on the pavement, therefore children walking to school with or without parents are often forced to walk in the road putting lives at danger.
The importance of pedestrian safety in Spring Lane specifically from the Galley Hill end of Spring lane towards the garages for pedestrians is at times severely compromised due to the extensive pavement parking.
At times when there are no more spaces to park in Spring Lane there is indiscriminate parking on the hard standing on Galley Hill towards Boxted Road at the junction with Spring Lane causing a significant blind spot
We have some further proposals for your attention.
We would like to recommend that in a best case the brick buildings in the garage area are removed to floor level and the area used solely or mainly for residents parking with a provision of electric charging posts that will soon be required for electric cars. This would allow the footpath and grass verge from the garage area to Galley Hill to be designated a no parking zone, and so to enable pedestrians to walk along Spring Lane safety.
Councillor Williams responded and thanked Mr Lilley for providing a copy of his statement. The council does not have any control over congestion and safety issues. The disposal of the garage site has been offered for residential redevelopment and so it is not available for parking. Councillor Williams explained that people who owned a garage on the site have been given another garage at a different site. He also stated that a lot of these garages are too small for modern cars - they are mainly being used for storage so did not think this would have a huge impact on current parking issues. The parking survey was undertaken as part of the council’s verge hardening programme but this was rejected by a majority of residents for a number of reasons. Councillor Williams reassured Mr Lilley that he would be happy to add Spring Lane back into the verge hardening programme but he insisted that it would need resident support.