Area Committee looks at ways to avoid the monthly traffic gridlock

The Chiswick Area Planning Committee has been asked to approve the introduction of additional waiting and loading restrictions on Sundays when the car boot sale is in operation at Chiswick Community School.

The Burlington Lane school has operated a car boot sale on the first Sunday of each month (excluding January) since 1984. The numbers of sellers and buyers vary from month to month but in fine weather there can be anything up to 450 sellers, numbers of buyers are estimated to be between 1,000 and 2,000 in the winter and in the summer to be between 3,000 and 4,000 if the weather is good.

The sale has even been lauded as a favourite with the staff of Vogue who say, “When you’re done people-watching, tuck into the stalls. Finds abound for early risers from 1930s pieces to Sonia Rykiel.”

Since the car boot sales began, the Council has had to introduce extensive waiting and loading restrictions in the area around the school which apply only on the day of the car boot sale. These restrictions are aimed at addressing the worst problems of traffic obstruction in the area, while trying to avoid residential areas where local people would be affected by the restrictions.

In recent years additional temporary waiting and loading restrictions have been implemented in the Staveley Gardens with no-waiting cones and temporary signs being placed on the road prior to each sale. These restrictions are shown here

However recent experience has shown that these measures are not enough and with whole area becoming grid locked and residents complaining of boot sale visitors parking across their driveways and hindering access to their roads.

Additional measures discussed at the CAC meeting on 8th December included requesting that TfL convert the existing Red Route clearway on the A316 and side roads into a marked Red Route and that funding for implementing the permanent waiting and loading restrictions in Staveley Gardens, as outlined here (opens a pdf file) should be sought from the Chiswick Community School’s PTA.

CAC members deferred their final decision to enable discussion with the PTA over the requested financial contribution. It was also agreed that no work would be undertaken until after consultation with residents.

December 17, 2009