REPORT TO PICKMERE PARISH COUNCIL
6th September 2022
AGENDA ITEM 9.6 REQUEST TO CEC FOR ADDITIONAL PARKING RESTRICTIONS IN THE VILLAGE
1. BACKGROUND
1.1 In the light of continuing problems caused by excessive numbers of visitors to the village, and the resultant parking problems that are created, Council decided at its July meeting to ask a working group of members to consider what changes to the parking restrictions in the village might be appropriate in order that a request might be made to CEC to consider making an appropriate Traffic Regulation Order.
1.2 Members will recall that the current single yellow line that exists on Park Lane and Mere Lane seeks to prevent parking at weekends and on Bank Holidays from 1st May to 30th September.
1.3 Members will also recall that the policing of such restrictions relies on CEC’s parking wardens, who do make short visits to the village on some weekends in the summer but are not present throughout a busy Saturday or Sunday. The Police do not have powers to enforce the yellow line restrictions but may, if they are in the village, ticket vehicles that are considered to be causing an obstruction whether on yellow lines or not.
2. REPORT
2.1 The working group has now met and discussed the issues arising, not the least of which is the fact that any new yellow lines will inevitably to some degree inconvenience the residents outside whose homes the new lines are laid.
2.2 The working group’s first point is that the existing yellow lines on Park Lane that are faded and only partially visible should be repainted as a matter of urgency by CEC, so as to ensure that they are obvious to drivers and are enforceable by CEC’s parking wardens. This is an essential part of any proposal.
2.3 In considering this topic, the working group took into account the various comments made by residents in response to the parking survey carried out by the Parish Council during winter 2021-22.
2.4 The aim of the working group’s considerations was to try to find a solution that:
• would inhibit and discourage visitors in their excessive numbers from parking in the village;
• would not result in a solution where parking was simply displaced from roads currently affected by such parking to other roads / parts of roads that are not currently troubled.
2.5 A comprehensive solution was therefore sought. The scheme therefore suggested therefore includes the following principles (see also attached plan):
• There would be a comprehensive single yellow line covering all adopted roads in the village, including Pickmere Lane, broadly from the Village Hall to the CWAC/Wincham boundary, Park Lane from the Red Lion to some point beyond the developed part of the village, Frog Lane from Park Lane to just beyond the final house (Crown Farm Barn), Mere Lane, Jacob’s Way, The Orchards, Clover Drive, Merehaven Close, Crofters Close, part of Wellfield Close, and Mere Close.
• The parking restriction to be applied would apply all year and would operate from say 10.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.
• Either independently or in association with this proposal, it may be desirable to have separate double line restrictions (no parking at any time) on certain junctions, for instance Park Lane/Mere Lane and Park Lane/Clover Drive, etc., since there is a feeling that all drivers will respect double lines, whereas drivers visiting Pickmere are increasingly starting to ignore the single yellow lines.
2.6 Such a comprehensive scheme would of course imply that CEC would provide an adequate parking warden resource to enforce the restrictions.
2.7 One particular aim of this proposal is that visitors to the lake will have to walk so far from where they can legally park that they would be discouraged from coming at all.
2.8 It is considered by the working group that such a scheme would be simple and consistent and would not tend to displace parking from one location to another equally inconvenient location. It is worth repeating the comment that the working group acknowledges that any new yellow lines will inevitably to some degree inconvenience the residents outside whose homes the new lines are laid. However, its aim was to try to find a suggested solution that would be worthy of exploration with CEC.
2.9 If Council accepts such a suggestion, the next step would be for the working group to seek a meeting with CEC’s highways officers to discuss its potential merits and demerits, and possibly to explore other solutions or variations. Among them it would be worthwhile to revisit in discussions the possibility of a village-wide residents’ permit scheme. Hitherto such schemes for individual roads in the village have not complied with CEC’s criteria for such schemes, but that should not prevent a further exploration of the possibilities.
2.10 As mentioned above, any meeting should also consider the merits of more limited double yellow line restrictions in certain locations.
2.11 CEC’s description of its Traffic Regulation Order process is as follows:
CEC must go through a formal legal process to introduce or change a TRO. This means that putting a TRO in place can be expensive, because of advertising and legal fees on top of the costs of any engineering work. These fees and costs have to come out of council funds.
Before a permanent TRO is put in place, we consult with people who might be affected.
These include:
• parish/town councillors
• the emergency services
• the Freight Transportation Association and Road Haulage Association
• residents, local businesses and community groups
• public transport operators
We advertise the plans for the TRO in the local newspaper. We also put notices up in the affected street. There is then a 3-week period for the public to give comments for or against the proposal.
After the consultation, we consider all the comments and decide whether to go ahead with the scheme, change it, or abandon it. If we decide to change it, we might need to advertise again.
Because of the length of time needed for consultations and legal work, it can be a year or more from the time we apply to the time the order is agreed.
2.11 The process envisaged by the working group is therefore that:
• It discusses the Council’s ideas for additional parking restrictions (as decided today) with CEC.
• The working group reports back to Council on the results of this discussion.
• Council reconsiders the situation and perhaps responds with an amended suggested scheme, which would seem acceptable in broad terms to CEC.
• CEC takes up and promotes a new TRO following the process described in para. 2.10., which involves consultation with the bodies mentioned and affected residents of Pickmere.
3. RECOMMENDATION
3.1 That as an urgent initial short-term request, CEC be asked to repaint the faded yellow lines on Park Lane as soon as possible.
3.2 That the working group on this topic be asked to meet with CEC’s Highway officers to discuss the scheme suggested above, and to report back to Council on the results of that discussion.
Jack Steel
Clerk to the Parish Council