(a)        Petition from Residents of Norcot Road, House Numbers 275 to 291 – Objection to Red Route

The Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report on the receipt of a petition objecting to a section of the Red Route Scheme.

The petition read as follows:

‘We are petitioning for the red route scheme recently implemented along the stretch of Norcot Road house numbers 275-291, to be replaced by an alternative scheme. Our houses sit back from the highway, with tarmac access to our driveways for vehicles and there are 2 pedestrian pathways (one by the road and one in front of the houses). In the past we have always parked cars on the access to our driveways or on the grass in between. (Photo attached). By parking there we didn’t cause an obstruction or hazard on the highway or the pedestrian paths. Since the introduction of the red route, numerous parking fines have been incurred due to cars being parked in this way. The impact of the scheme has meant that we are now having to park cars in local side streets where space is already limited and the obvious difficulties that occur with deliveries being made.

It seems ludicrous that these areas cannot be used to park vehicles in when it causes no disruption to traffic flow or presents obstacles or hazards to pedestrians or cyclists, which is why the scheme was implemented.

Attached are details of the residents raising objections to this scheme together with contact details. We would welcome a site visit to discuss in more detail.

We understand the need for busses and cars to flow freely and the need for a scheme that stops parking on the highway. We would like the red route changed to another scheme to enable us to park outside our houses without incurring fines or an exclusion area for this stretch of the road’

The report stated that a petition had been received from residents of Norcot Road which had contained 11 signatures on behalf of 14 persons at nine different addresses.

The report explained that the western section of the Red Route, to which the petition referred, had been implemented under the experimental order and was still in the formal consultation phase.  The process had invited objections and other comments that could be considered for potential alterations to the experimental, and/or final Traffic Regulation Order.  Officers would record and consider the contents of the petition in the context of the consultation and would be submitting a report on the western section of the Red Route to a future meeting.

The report explained that parking on footways and verges could cause obstruction to pedestrians, particularly those with mobility aids or push-chairs, and obstructions to sightlines for users of other vehicles, whether motor vehicles or bicycles.  The footways and verges were not constructed to support vehicle traffic, unless specifically indicated otherwise, and there were legislative offences that applied to obstruction, driving on a footway and damaging the public Highway.  Damage could make an area look unsightly, increase maintenance costs and put members of the public at increased risk.  Red Route restrictions were waiting restrictions, in the same ‘family’ as yellow-lines, and just like these other waiting restrictions they applied to the entire width of the Highway land, from the centre of the carriageway to the boundary on the same side of the road as the marking/signing, this included the areas of footway and verge.

At the invitation of the Chair, lead petitioner Jenny Pickett and Councillor Daya Pal Singh addressed the Sub-Committee.

Resolved –

(1)        That the report be noted;

(2)        That the petition and its contents be recorded as an objection to the Red Route, for inclusion in a future report on the western section of the Red Route;

(3)        That the lead petitioner be informed accordingly.