ePetition details

Council response

Thank you for your petition supporting your request for a permit zone in Winvale and Vale Grove. We currently receive a large volume of similar type of requests for a controlled parking zone (CPZ) from all over the borough. Since we are only able to work on a limited number of such parking schemes each year there is various requirements which must be met in order for one to be considered and we often try to discourage the implementation of permit zones covering just one road as best practice is to cover a number of roads within a zone. One of these measures is that off-street parking is unavailable for the vast majority of residents over a number of roads. This is not the case for properties in Vale Grove and therefore this location would not be suitable for consideration.

I have also noticed that Vale Grove has a large number of unrestricted off-street provision to the rear of the flats, these capable of accommodating quite a few vehicles. There is also a large amount of flank wall (kerb space) available to residents in both roads and this combined with the off-street provision that is provided, I struggle to come to terms with these concerns. There seems to be a huge imbalance in favor of available kerb space, especially when you consider the small proportion of residents that would require to park on-street within both roads.

Unfortunately, no resident has exclusive rights to park within a street, as this sterilizes the road and does not allow others to park at other times. As on-street parking can be a premium, Slough Council tries to provide a balance between parking by residents and by others, rather than displace parking issues onto another location especially where demand is high due to nearby facilities such as stations, hospitals, schools, businesses and shops.

It would be the case that every resident who has a vehicle registered to a property in other roads within the whole parking zone would be able to park in your road and may do so if their road is full or just so to get that bit nearer to the station or to the shops. There may also be more cars registered in your street than we are able to provide spaces for and therefore you would feel that you have paid a fee to find yourself in the same situation as at present. A permit gives holders priority parking during the operational times but will not guarantee a space outside your property or even in your road. Outside of the controlled hours, the permit bays could be convenient for outside visitors/commuters i.e. if the controlled times were 12.00noon -2.00pm a vehicle could park from 2.01pm to 11.59am and not need a parking permit which could still cause you problems.

Where residents are experiencing driveway obstruction advisory white bar access markings are now available to be requested providing they meet the agreed criteria:

• White bar access markings will only be installed where the turning of vehicles in or out of a driveway is a regular problem.
• White bar markings will not be provided where waiting restrictions (yellow lines) are in force or where other carriageway markings would conflict, unless there are special circumstances to do so.
• If the access or driveway is shared with a neighbour, it will be necessary to obtain their agreement to having a white bar marking. We may need to consult a neighbour in advance of installing such a marking.

Further information and application forms can be accessed through the following link.
http://www.slough.gov.uk/parking-travel-and-roads/obstructive-parking.aspx

Therefore, having reviewed the information available, we will not be recommending any further action at this time but will ensure that your comments are recorded on our database to be included in any review that may take in the future.