Parking problems

[Eagle]

Anna

True probably not enough spaces for locals if CPZ's introduced , but would drive the infamous selfish parkers away.

Surely must be more places with CPZ's than without.

[alywin]

This morning about ten ish walked along Tredown , Homecroft , Upper Venner and Wiverton.

No spaces in Upper Venner or Tredown. One place in Homecroft , about 4 in Wiverton.

Urgent need of parking controls.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've heard several people complaining about seemingly sudden, excessive parking in the Venner Road area - does anyone know whether there's anything in particular which has caused the sudden change?

[Eagle]

Too be honest Alwin I think it has been terrible since the Overground opened.

I know the area well and back in the 50's hardly a car in Venner or Homecroft.

Until the council do their duty and impose some sort of control there will be no improvement.

[Parker1970]

I know the area well and back in the 50's hardly a car in Venner or Homecroft.

Comparing 2016 to the 1950's is hardly a fair comparison. Not only was the population greatly lower, many could not afford cars in that "era"

[Eagle]

Point taken Parker but how much nicer was it with few cars parked in the road and virtually no front gardens destroyed.

[alywin]

Too be honest Alwin I think it has been terrible since the Overground opened.

Maybe, but there seems to have been something specific in the past few weeks.

[coll]

I wanted to move this back up. I didn't think it was possible but parking seems to be getting worse. Between the hours of 7 and 9am the sound of cars up and down the thorpes parking is astounding. I refuse to put my bins out to 'mark ''my'' space' as many seem to do. However, I really resent having to park several streets away if I need to go out at those times. It has gotten to a point need to wait until significantly after commute hours to move go anywhere. (sorry if that sounds insensitive to non car owners)

[harrym]

It's a nightmare to park during the day at all and a serious issue for anybody with young children, mobility problems or even heavy shopping.

I've contacted Ian Davenport the chair of the Thorpes Residents Association to see if I can meet him to discuss.

The Council has a duty/pledge to prioritise the parking needs of residents over that of businesses, visitors and lastly commuters and at the moment that certainly isn't the case.

At the last Residents AGM the vast majority of attendees supported the idea of 2hr parking controls to stop commuters parking in the area all day.

It might even ease up congestion in Sydenham which is a whole other issue to implement such a scheme in the Thirpes and other roads like Venner which I know really suffer too.

[DrowsyDaisy]

There are also huge problems parking around Kinver Road, Spring Hill, Peak Hill etc given the proximity to the station, also from people using the gym on Cobbs Corner - although this is less of an issue as these people are usually not there from around 8am-6pm. I would wholeheartedly support a CPZ here, of the 10am-12pm sort, as in Herne Hill - so people can still use the roads to park for shopping in Sydenham etc but not be able to leave their cars here all day. We don't seem to have a resident's association for these roads, but if anyone else is similarly affected, perhaps we could get together and write to the council with the weight of a few more signatures? (they have ignored my previous emails). Let me know if so.

[Eagle]

Virtually all of Sydenham has a problem. Most roads built before the automobile.

Lewisham need to take drastic action to freeze out commuters .

CPZ is one option.

[Sydenham]

The Council has a duty/pledge to prioritise the parking needs of residents over that of businesses, visitors and lastly commuters and at the moment that certainly isn't the case.

@harrym - interesting - have you a link or reference to this pledge? I never realised Lewisham Council had been this specific. It's something you would hope they would believe in but do they actually do anything towards it.

[mosy]

I wondered that as it's the policy not to include parking spaces for new developments.

[paraphrased]:"Don't need them as land is scarce and public transport is sufficiently good". How do they square that with priority parking since they're obviously designing for "whoever gets there first on public roadways". (Including external daily commuters.)

[Eagle]

Whilst I understand commuters come bottom of the pile , surely local business bring prosperity and jobs to the area so certainly should be joint number one , or even number one.

[mosy]

I'm sorry I don't understand your point Eagle as the Girton Road car park is still free all day for business car owners as well as domestic.

[iandavenport]

I am the Ian Davenport of the Thorpes Residents Association - how have you contacted me harrym as I've not seen anything?
I'm happy to meet up to discuss it , but i think you should add to the post re the" vast majority of attendees supported the idea of 2hr parking controls", that the attendees were clearly told before that vote that the council had a policy of not introducing 2hr controls, and that there was only one long standing one near Hither Green.

[harrym]

Hi Ian
Thanks for your response - I've sent you a pm in addition to my original message via Facebook.
I'm aware that Lewisham don't currently use 2 hour controls but there's no reason we can't lobby for them to introduce them. There's a clear precedent for their use and success in neighbouring boroughs.
I'm keen to find the best positive compromise solution - and certainly the residents meeting I attended suggested this was it.
Look forward to hearing from you again,
Harriet

[coll]

I wanted to bump this thread back up. I have noticed that the parking issues are increasing in the area - as if that were possible. Today I watched as 4 brand new cars drove out of the Audi place into the Thorpes. They all parked and left. This is not new. Enterprise car rental also leaves several of their cars on the local streets.

I have noticed more and more moving trucks, white (and blue) vans and tow trucks parking in the area and leaving them for days or weeks at a time. I suspect people think its a safe space to leave their business trucks without having to pay for parking. This is all on top of the increase people leaving their cars all day while at work when using Sydenham station.
It is a mess out there and really disruptive when working from home. Between 8 and 9am the side roads are like a busy car park with masses of people descending on the area.
Does anyone know if there is any action being looked into or is it a dead idea?

[Eagle]

The fact is too many people in Sydenham have cars. The area was built for train travel and not cars.
Only by increasing charges will some give up their cars.

[monkeyarms]

Controversially... I can't say it really bothers me. I live on one of the supposedly problematic roads and it's not a huge deal. 9 times out of 10 I can park somewhere on my road. Yes, parking spaces fill up super-quickly: it's rare that a space is vacant for long, so I can rarely park directly outside my house. But I don't need to park directly outside my house. On the far-and-few occasions I can't park anywhere on my road, well, two or three minutes' walk round the corner isn't the end of the world.

the only time it's annoying is when you have need to reserve a space directly outside your home for a tradesperson.

[Suzee]

Controversially... I can't say it really bothers me. I live on one of the supposedly problematic roads and it's not a huge deal. 9 times out of 10 I can park somewhere on my road. Yes, parking spaces fill up super-quickly: it's rare that a space is vacant for long, so I can rarely park directly outside my house. But I don't need to park directly outside my house. On the far-and-few occasions I can't park anywhere on my road, well, two or three minutes' walk round the corner isn't the end of the world.

the only time it's annoying is when you have need to reserve a space directly outside your home for a tradesperson.

I think we live on the same road but I have a very different experience.... I find parking here or around the corner really troublesome especially during a week day. It is such a pain with tradesmen and visitors. When we moved here in 2012 parking was easy.

I would be totally in favour of controlled parking but the council don't seem to be interested.

Sue