Improving parking in Sutton update

The parking strategy, which takes a boroughwide view of parking options, seeks to prioritise on-street parking for residents where possible, while taking into account demands on kerb space from future developments, commuter parking and safety and access for emergency and refuse collection vehicles.

The council is consulting across three geographical areas to get residents views and we are now at the final stage of the consultation for Geographical Area 1, which includes St Helier, The Wrythe & Wandler Valley and Sutton Local areas, parts of Carshalton Central, Sutton South, Belmont and Wallington North.

The council has this week written to 43,000 residents in Geographical Area 1 with information about the final formal consultation stage and details of upcoming information events. We’ve also published the results of the latest consultation for Geographical Area 1 on our website.

Cllr Manuel Abellan, chair of Sutton Council’s Environment and Neighbourhood Committee, said: “I genuinely believe we now have plans to improve the parking situation across this area. What we are proposing will make a positive difference, and our new plans are based in no small part on the valuable engagement and consultation we have had with residents.

“There are several areas in the borough that face very particular issues, often associated with commuter, school and hospital parking. We also know there are areas in the borough, that if not facing parking pressures now, may do so in the future with the growth in population and housing. Put simply, if we don’t do something soon we’ll run out of space for everybody to park their car.

“Following two rounds of consultation with residents, we’ve reviewed and amended our plans and it is now our intention to develop targeted schemes that will address areas of acute pressures. This means that for the vast majority of residents we are not suggesting any changes where you live.”

The formal proposals for Geographical Area 1 are available on our website with a new online map where residents can search for proposals for their street.

In areas where changes are proposed, the plans include:

• Permit parking areas (PPAs) - various times.

• Yellow lines at some junctions for safety purposes.

In a PPA all streets are subject to parking controls and vehicles may park only when displaying a valid permit for that PPA. There are no marked bays in a PPA, with the exception of disabled bays, loading bays and time limited free bays.

The formal consultation process will be split into two parts.

• Formal consultation (traffic management order) for seven permit parking areas (PPA’s) to launch in early July.

• Formal consultation (traffic management order) for three new PPA zones in Sutton Central and Sutton South and a small free bay scheme in Sutton North to launch in the Autumn.

Ahead of the July formal consultation on the seven new PPA’s, we are holding a series of information events for residents in those affected areas to see the plans for their area and to ask us any questions.

Residents will have three weeks in July to respond to the formal TMO process.

The seven PPAs include three near St Helier Hospital, two near Hackbridge station, one near Carshalton Station and one in Sutton North.

INFORMATION EVENTS:

For residents in the proposed new PPA zones in Sutton Central and Sutton South, and the Sutton North free bay schemes we will provide further information about how you can engage in formal consultations in the Autumn.

The next phase of consultation for residents in Geographical Area 2 (which includes parts of South Sutton, Cheam, Belmont, Carshalton and Clockhouse) and the start of consultation for Geographical Area 3 (which includes parts of Cheam North, Worcester Park, Beddington and Wallington wards) will commence in the Autumn. More information about these consultations will be published in due course.

Additionally, as a result of feedback from residents during the parking strategy consultations so far, the council is reviewing its N1 van policy. The policy, implemented in September 2016, was aimed at discouraging companies from using residential streets to park their fleet vehicles. A decision is expected at the Environment and Neighbourhoods Committee on June 20.

For more info on the parking strategy consultations: www.sutton.gov.uk/parkingstrategy