Parking zone extension could lead to Beckenham gardens being paved over (From News Shopper)
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Parking zone extension could lead to Beckenham gardens being paved over
11:46am Sunday 1st July 2012 in Bromley By Robert Fisk
One garden in Belmont Road is already being used as a driveway
FRONT gardens could be paved over and turned into car parks to get around the council’s ‘revenue generating scheme’ of making residents pay for parking permits.
The Clock House controlled parking zone is set to be extended to incorporate Belmont Road, Cromwell Road, Colesburg Road, Hampden Avenue, Hampden Road and Balgowan Road this month (July).
This means people living in these streets will have to pay £40 a year for a permit to park in the zone.
And Liz Higgins, of Belmont Road, says this could lead to homeowners getting rid of their front gardens and turning them into driveways.
She said: “In my road the front gardens are too small but there is one very canny older gentleman who has done this, so maybe others may join and turn our beautiful front gardens in to concrete.
“I know there was a road in Beckenham where they brought in controlled parking and residents turned it into a car park by paving their drives so the council took the zone away because it wasn’t making money.”
The 48-year-old says Bromley Council has not listened to the views of homeowners before deciding to bring in the scheme.
She said: “The council will mark bays that will be for resident use only between the hours of 10am to 12pm, Monday to Friday only.
“We would agree with it but those two hours between 10am and 12pm are quite ineffective.
“The only time we experience parking problems is school drop off, before 10am, school pick up, after 12noon and weekends therefore these restrictions are not benefiting residents.”
The sales director added: “In the 10 or 11 years I have lived here I have only not been able to park in my road a couple of times and that’s when an event has been going on in the park.”
Executive councillor for environment Councillor Colin Smith said: “The existing controlled parking zone in Clock House is being extended solely at the request of residents following lengthy consultation.
“We obviously understand that these measures are not universally popular, but the consensus was that such measures were needed to deter increased all day parking by visitors to the area, thereby denying spaces decently close to their homes for local residents with limited off street parking facilities.
“The cost of the permits, at £40, remains amongst the very cheapest across London.
“The scheme will be reviewed after six months to ensure it is serving the purpose it has been designed for, with any tweaks or minor adjustments which might prove necessary being made at that time.”
Comments(24)
blueskies7
says...
2:23pm Sun 1 Jul 12
mouthalmighty
says...
2:50pm Sun 1 Jul 12
dag
says...
12:03am Mon 2 Jul 12
PaulErith
says...
8:48am Mon 2 Jul 12
the wall
says...
10:06am Mon 2 Jul 12
This will go up every year.
10 years ago paid I was paying £12 this year it's £92. For what? A piece of paper. The painted boxes on the road are faded and all the signs have longed be paid for.
This is the thin end of the wedge
bible scoffer
says...
10:44am Mon 2 Jul 12
Jeeepsie Joe
says...
11:38am Mon 2 Jul 12
bible scoffer wrote:Block pavers LOL !! You the man fer that aint ya.
...saw this coming two years ago, so sold a property in this area.
Holey Moley
says...
3:48pm Mon 2 Jul 12
Don't make me laugh.
Cut out your Mars bar at lunchtime and you'd have saved enough for a permit...and you get to keep your front lawn.
Not In My Back Yard? Not On My Front Garden, more like!
marieowyn
says...
5:54pm Mon 2 Jul 12
They will also know that there are limits on the size of front garden which can be paved over - the vast majority of front gardens in newly-to -be-extended CPZ area are too small.
As a garden designer & conservationist I wouldnt suggest anyone should have an impermeable surface in their front garden as it causes more problems than it resolves.
So there should be no concern on that score.
As regards Balgowan School personnel haviong free permits I think that could cause some ill feeling among residents - but they should certainly be eligible to purchase a permit as if they were a resident.
Needless to say, getting any sort of sensible and helpful answer from the Council staff or Councillors involved is a major feat.
madras
says...
7:37pm Mon 2 Jul 12
bible scoffer
says...
10:01am Tue 3 Jul 12
Jeeepsie Joe wrote:...was you dropped on your head as a child 'jeepsie kiss' rofl!! you certainly need some kind of break - have a week orf... you make on sense whatsoever on here!! i heard hastings can be rather pleasant in the rain!! lmao!!
bible scoffer wrote: ...saw this coming two years ago, so sold a property in this area.Block pavers LOL !! You the man fer that aint ya.
PaulErith
says...
10:14am Tue 3 Jul 12
Gavinp
says...
1:44pm Tue 3 Jul 12
Its killing it and they just cant see it.
Several of my shop owner friends are thinking of getting rid of there shops as no one can park any where near them. One of them pays nearly £400 in rates to the council so they are going to be far worse if they continue with this parking crusade they seem to be on
Flowergirl76
says...
2:01pm Tue 3 Jul 12
bible scoffer wrote:Well said bible scoffer ! Think he not taken his meds in a while !
Jeeepsie Joe wrote:...was you dropped on your head as a child 'jeepsie kiss' rofl!! you certainly need some kind of break - have a week orf... you make on sense whatsoever on here!! i heard hastings can be rather pleasant in the rain!! lmao!!
bible scoffer wrote: ...saw this coming two years ago, so sold a property in this area.Block pavers LOL !! You the man fer that aint ya.
Jeeepsie Joe
says...
10:24pm Tue 3 Jul 12
THaNk YOu
Flowergirl76
says...
8:24am Wed 4 Jul 12
Jeeepsie Joe wrote:You know that from experience do you ?
Take your tongue out of 'scoffers' arse Flowergirl, it will make your breath stink worse than it already does.
THaNk YOu
the wall
says...
10:17am Wed 4 Jul 12
Flowergirl76 wrote:What that your breath sinks. We have heard a few things,
Jeeepsie Joe wrote: Take your tongue out of 'scoffers' arse Flowergirl, it will make your breath stink worse than it already does. THaNk YOuYou know that from experience do you ?
apparently it can strip barnacles off the Titanic.
Jeeepsie Joe
says...
11:20am Wed 4 Jul 12
Flowergirl76 wrote:Go clean your teeth and while you're at it have a wash fishy flaps.
Jeeepsie Joe wrote:You know that from experience do you ?
Take your tongue out of 'scoffers' arse Flowergirl, it will make your breath stink worse than it already does.
THaNk YOu
I'm Spartacus today as well.
ThANK yUo
Flowergirl76
says...
11:51am Wed 4 Jul 12
Jeeepsie Joe wrote:Oh my what an intellectual (please feel free to use a dictionary) creature you are gypsy boy. So instead of writing intelligent (again feel free to use a dictionary) comments on here you result to insults. You certainly are a bonus to the community ..... Your parents must be so proud to have produced such a pillar of the community
Flowergirl76 wrote:Go clean your teeth and while you're at it have a wash fishy flaps.
Jeeepsie Joe wrote:You know that from experience do you ?
Take your tongue out of 'scoffers' arse Flowergirl, it will make your breath stink worse than it already does.
THaNk YOu
I'm Spartacus today as well.
ThANK yUo
Flowergirl76
says...
11:52am Wed 4 Jul 12
the wall wrote:I do chuckle at your come backs :) brilliant ! X
Flowergirl76 wrote:What that your breath sinks. We have heard a few things,
Jeeepsie Joe wrote: Take your tongue out of 'scoffers' arse Flowergirl, it will make your breath stink worse than it already does. THaNk YOuYou know that from experience do you ?
apparently it can strip barnacles off the Titanic.
Jeeepsie Joe
says...
12:02pm Wed 4 Jul 12
Insults R Us, that's me.
mickeyboy
says...
12:45pm Wed 4 Jul 12
We've all seen them sitting in their 4X4s an hour before school closing time so they can get as near to the gates as possible so their little darlings don't have to walk too far.
BeckenhamCloud9
says...
4:36pm Fri 6 Jul 12
mickeyboy wrote:There's a couple of kids in my road who go to this school (less than 1/4 mile).
If the Chav mothers walked their feral kids the 400 yds to Balgowan School then maybe it would help solve the 'fatkid' syndrome that most of them seem to have. We've all seen them sitting in their 4X4s an hour before school closing time so they can get as near to the gates as possible so their little darlings don't have to walk too far.
One's mum walks with her to the school then walks home.
The other leaves earlier, gets in her 4x4, drives to the school & drives home - invariably this takes far longer than walking.
When I've mentioned this she just says "I want my baby to be safe"
Yes, well....
BeckenhamTown.us says...
1:15pm Sun 1 Jul 12
Balgowan PS is not a business, it's a fundamental public service to the local residents, many of whom moved here to enable their children to attend the school.
The Council needs to fundamentally re-look at how they implement the idea of traffic parking measures within the borough, the Controlled Parking Zone initial leaflets that come through the doors are made to look like friendly awareness and open questionnaires, but are being used to poll residents without informing them than responses will absolutely base the premise on whether the area will have or not have a CPZ imposed. Not even a majority of residents are required by road, just a majority of those that post back the questionnaire. This is the very thinnist wedge of democracy, but it all helps the Council get more and more CPZs set-up and slowly strangle the local areas in which we live.
Those on the edges of possible CPZs are not informed ever of any actions and therefore feel angry when all of a sudden they find the displaced parkers now on their roads. But that's great for the Council who then knows they'll have a ripe set of new neighbours who will more than likely vote for another CPZ and the problem moves ever on, whilst all locals end up paying for parking on a road they never had to, plus they can't even park outside a friend's locally and those with carer needs or home businesses etc are worse off too.
I call on Cllr Colin Smith to explain why they didn't inform Balgowan Primary School, and I hope he can confirm that all school personnel will have free parking permits. (Was Balgowan's departure from the local schools' network to become an Academy anything to do with the Council's thinking?)
I also call on him and the Portfolio Holder to publicly state that they'll relook at the process they use and change it. It needs to be fairer, clearer and that any first steps should be asking local residents if they themselves have the best solutions or would like to sort out their own streets instead of CPZ's being imposed by farwaray Council members.