Division Over Grove Park CPZ Continues

Tension escalates as both sides take entrenched positions

Tension over the proposed CPZ in Grove Park has escalated. The pro-CPZ group has claimed that leaflets which were circulated locally by an anti-CPZ group were "hysterical" and designed to be "alarmist". Leaflets which are pro the CPZ have also been circulated.

Both the pro and anti CPZ lobby are disputing the figures over car parking spaces which will be lost in Park Road and Staveley Road when the CPZ comes into effect.

The Council is proposing to introduce limited parking restrictions (2 hours a weekday between 10-12 am) in Park Road and Staveley Road east. It will be for a trial period of six months and could start within the next two months.

An anti-CPZ poster warns of a 'parking nightmare'

In the past week, leaflets from a group calling itself the Grove Park Protection Society have been circulated in the area and a petition has been set up on Hounslow Council's website against the introduction of a CPZ. The Grove Park Group, a long-established residents' association in the area, has said it is not responsible for the leafletting.

At a recent meeting to discuss the CPZ issue held in St. Paul's Church, Grove Park, Hounslow Council's Senior Traffic Officer, Mr. Satnam Sahota stated that Park / Staveley Roads will lose 126/127 car spaces in the event of a CPZ being imposed.

Those against the CPZ have claimed that this will mean a displacement of cars into neighbouring streets, which will not be able to cope with those numbers.

However the Park Road and Staveley Road Association has issued a statement in which it says the actual figure is close to 20. A statement issued to ChiswickW4.com states that there is "scaremongering" which is misleading residents in Grove Park about the introduction of the CPZ.

"We have now met with the traffic officers of the London Borough of Hounslow. They confirm that with the introduction of the proposed cpz only 20 parking spaces will be lost in total in Park and Staveley Roads and then only for two hours per day on weekdays.  In addition we anticipate that the number of regular commuter parkers will reduce by at least 57 cars and that more space will be available for Grove Park residents and bona fide visitors.

"The aim of this initiative is to deter commuters who park all day in our streets, then walk to the tube, Chiswick mainline station or Chiswick High Road. Travellers using Heathrow also park here and order taxis to avoid parking charges at the airport. The result: we have streets clogged by outsiders whilst local residents and visitors to the area find it impossible to park.

"The latest leaflet paints a grim picture of prowling parking wardens patrolling the streets all day. What nonsense! The scheme will operate for only two hours per day on weekdays only.

"The group is drumming up fears that the nominal number of parking spaces in Park Road and Staveley Road will reduce from 305-178. But think about it. The reduction in commuter parking in Park and Staveley Roads will more than compensate for the loss of spaces, leaving our roads safer and easier to use. The two hour weekday period is intended to inconvenience and deter commuters, not local people." said the statement from the pro-CPZ lobby.

We were unable to make contact with the group which calls itself the Grove Park Protection Society. However, another local group is angry that it is being blamed for the leaflets.

"The Grove Park Group has no association with either leaflet", said a spokesman for the GPG group and he added; " We take responsibility for our actions and put our name to our communciations as reputable adults". He said it was regrettable that anonymous third parties felt the need to malign his group in an underhanded way.

Hounslow Council's Scrutiny Committee approved the limited (two hours per weekday) six month trial for controlled parking in Park Road and Staveley Road east in Grove Park at their January meeting.

Two years ago, a proposal to introduced controlled parking in Grove Park as a whole was turned down by local residents. In 2011, the petition raised against the Grove Park / Strand On The Green CPZ raised 2,185 signatures, of which the Council registered 2,101.

March 23, 2013