Council Moves to Introduce Sunday Parking Restrictions in Chiswick

Decision made despite only 53 responses to survey

Residents of the Mid-Chiswick CPZ submitted a petition asking for hours to be extended. Picture: ChiswickW4.com

November 17, 2024

Hounslow Council is poised to introduce Sunday parking restrictions for the first time in the centre of Chiswick.

Following a review into the Mid-Chiswick Controlled Parking Zone which showed a majority of respondents to a survey favoured restrictions operating every day of the week, the council is bringing forward the measure. Opponents believe that, if the new restrictions are implemented it will inevitably lead to ‘CPZ Creep’ in which displacement will mean that all zones will need to introduce Sunday parking restrictions.

The Mid Chiswick CPZ was introduced in March 2011 with the intention of prioritising parking for local residents whilst still retaining some short stay parking options for visitors to nearby businesses. Currently parking restrictions in the zone which is to the north of Chiswick High Road between Turnham Green Terrace and Belmont Road operate from 9am – 7pm Monday to Saturday.

This CPZ includes part of Arnott Close, Belmont Terrace, Belmont Road, Bridge Street, Castle Place, Chardin Road, Chiswick Common Road, Elliott Road, Essex Road, Fishers Lane, Mills Row and Windmill Road.

A report by council officers into the result of a review and consultation exercise, which took place in July and August, identified increased parking pressure in the area during the evenings and at the times of the Sunday markets.

A petition had been submitted by local residents requesting an increase in the operational hours of the CPZ.

The council sent letters to 524 properties in the CPZ and received 56 responses, a reply rate of just 11%. The report blames the low response rate partly on the number of retirement housing units in the area which have on-site parking provision.

Nearly half of the responses came from Elliot Road and residents of this road provided most of the support for Sunday parking restrictions and longer operational hours every day. On the question of Sunday parking 24 out of 38 of those in favour were from Elliot Road.

The survey also showed the majority of respondents wanted more shared-use bays, which can be used by shoppers and visitors, to be reallocated to resident use only.

Businesses are already expressing dismay about the plan. Picture: ChiswickW4.com

The report by the council officers states, “It is noted that the response rate to the CPZ is relatively low and it could be argued that there is insufficient support to progress any changes. Notwithstanding this, it is highlighted that advancing the proposal to include Sunday controls to statutory consultation does give local residents and businesses a further chance to raise any concerns they have and, therefore, does mean that there would be an opportunity to withdraw the proposed change if there is significant opposition”

It is also acknowledged that the increased operational times of the CPZ could result in parking being displaced to roads outside of the Mid Chiswick CPZ and, if this happens, there would be a review of those zones as well.

Ward councillor Joanna Biddolph said, “I know residents are glad that the formal consultation process has started. There has been a long lead up to this and residents in the mid Chiswick area have been discussing the difficulty of Sunday parking for some time. The Mid Chiswick Society has worked hard to find out what residents think and consulted them on various options before approaching the council. It is now up to residents to make sure their views are heard.”

Residents complain that problem has got worse over the last two years. Picture: ChiswickW4.com

One resident of Elliot Road contacted us to say, “We are not unaware that if you live in a road next to a busy commercial centre that parking might be problematic and it has been for two decades, at least in our experience. However, Sundays have moved beyond that in the last couple of years to the point where it is totally impossible to park. Any available space is taken up by market stallholders and attendees in the morning and it can be a challenge to navigate local streets let alone park. Then, later in the day, when the padel courts at Rocks Lane start to get busy it can be nearly as bad. This isn’t a matter of having to park a few streets away, sometimes if you don’t find a space you can spend ages trying to get through traffic jams on the High Road to find a space which might be as much as half a mile away.”

A local business owner who preferred not to be named said, “I was unaware of this plan until you told me about it. There are clearly problems for local residents and, while I am not unsympathetic to them, I’m astonished that what will be a major change is being implemented in such an underhand way. Restricting parking in one zone will just transfer the problems to the other so Sunday parking restrictions will be across the whole of the commercial centre in short order due to CPZ creep. Whatever people who regard themselves as experts on this matter tell you, the ability of customers to park is critical to the survival of many Chiswick businesses and the Sunday markets. Sunday is our highest turnover day and if it was to fall back to the average of the rest of the week we would be making losses. We know that this extra business is due to the free parking. It may be that Sunday parking restrictions are unavoidable, but the council should be making such a major change in a considered fashion not in the haphazard manner.”

The proposals to amend the operational times and any changes to the existing CPZ layout are now being advanced to the statutory consultation stage. This means that key stakeholders such as the police and Transport for London will be formally contacted about the measure. The public in general will be notified of any proposals by way of notices being place on street, on the council’s website and in the London Gazette. It is anticipated that this will happen by January 2025 with implementation of the new restrictions to be introduced in March 2025.