25/9/2003

Local News

Birchwood residents want CPZ

The CPZ currently includes the central retail and trading area where parking controls operate Monday to Saturday from 8.30am to 6pm.
An outer zone is formed by the adjoining residential roads where parking controls operate from Monday to Friday, 11am to 3pm.
Birchwood Road falls just outside the CPZ so there are no controls on non-residents parking in the road.
Steve Green, who lives in Birchwood Road, said: “Parking is a source of grievance with many people in the road because it is being used as a parking area for commuters and Waitrose staff.”
Another resident, Valerie Pepperell, said the parking problem is getting increasingly worse.
“Most houses in the road rely on on-street parking being available. Everybody is so fed up with it now, you just can’t park in your own road.
“If you leave a parking space in the morning people are sometimes queuing to get into your space — that’s how ridiculous it is. It is also having an effect on the state of the road — it is filthy dirty.”
Woking Borough Council’s parking services team believes that if CPZ was implemented in Birchwood Road it would remove commuters’ vehicles from the road during the hours of control.
The team has advised that in order to gain approval from the council, Birchwood Road residents will need to demonstrate a clear majority of them in favour of the project.
Cllr Mike Popham (Con, West Byfleet) has been liaising with a number of residents in the road.
He has formulated a letter to be circulated to all the houses in Birchwood Road encouraging them to make their views on the parking situation known.
Following the distribution of the letters, two residents in the road, Valerie Pepperell and Joyce Cook, have volunteered to work their way along the houses in the street canvassing opinion on whether residents would like to see the CPZ extended to Birchwood Road.
The results will be reported back to Woking Borough Council.
If a clear majority is in favour of the proposal, the  introduction of the scheme could be considered.
Cllr Popham said: “This initial consultation seeks to determine the requirements of our Birchwood Road residents in light of the experiences they have had since the CPZ was introduced.
“If a consensus for change can be determined from residents, the council will then consider what design changes are possible in the light of residents’ needs.”
The aim would be to increase the availability of parking in Birchwood Road between the control hours of 11am to 3pm Monday to Friday.
“It is possible that it may have a marginal benefit immediately outside the hours of control,” said Cllr Popham.
“There would be a cost but at £10 per year this amounts to 20p per week.
“This would be a tax on the motorist yes, but a small one on this occasion that would have clear benefits.

First printed in: Byfleet News and Mail