Agenda item

Forward Plan Ref: 2021/095

Contact: Tim Shickle, Group Manager – Traffic & Road Safety Tel: 07920 591545/Jim Whiting, Principal Officer – Parking Tel: 07584 581187

Report by Corporate Director Environment & Place (CMDHM5).

New Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) are being proposed across Oxford to address numerous local issues, along with helping to support the delivery of wider transport initiatives across the City and will become increasingly important if policy proposals such as demand management mechanisms e.g. traffic restrictions, or promoting higher density development in the city, are agreed.

Following an informal consultation on possible additional CPZs in Oxford in February and March 2021 the former Cabinet Member for Environment on 25 March 2021 approved proceeding to formal consultation on a CPZ in the South Oxford area. This report details the responses received and recommended amendments to the scheme taking account of those responses

The Cabinet Member for Highway Management is RECOMMENDED to approve the proposals as advertised for a Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) in the South Oxford (ext.) area, with the following amendments:

(a)      with regard to the submission by New Hinskey School, to provide for the allocation of business permits at the approved annual fee for staff, with the maximum number of such permits to be determined in consultation with the school.

(b)      with regard to the proposed limit of 1 permit per property in Abingdon Road, Gordon Street, Green Place, Lake Street, School Place, Stewart Street, Summerfield, Vicarage Lane, and Vicarage Road being amended so as to align with the proposed limit of 2 permits per property in the other parts of the CPZ.

(c)      with regard to the residential moorings on the Oxford Canal in the vicinity being included for eligibility for resident and visitor permits.

New Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) are being proposed across Oxford to address numerous local issues, along with helping to support the delivery of wider transport initiatives across the City and the Cabinet Member for Highway Management considered (CMDHM5) responses received to a consultation on the Oxford: South Oxford Area with a number of recommended amendments to the scheme resulting from those responses.

Dan Rawstorne spoke in support of the proposals. As a resident of Oxford for 16 years and Lake Street for over 3 years he had seen that parking in that area had become chaotic, congested, difficult and high risk with many visitors cruising the street looking for parking spaces in what was a narrow dead end adjacent to the pool and park. Like many Lake Street residents, he did not have any frontage or off-street parking and as a two car family the one resident parking permit per property was not workable and discriminatory and so supported the decision to now recommend that a one car restriction in and around Lake Street be increased to two.However, a 2 hour with no return within 2 hours parking for non-permit holders and free Sunday parking would not prevent shoppers or swimmers or commuters from parking on Lake Street but would prevent many residents from parking at all times of day or night when they return from work or leisure. Restrictions should, therefore, be applied to Lake Street at all hours and at the weekend. This was when the pool was used most heavily and when most shopping visitors currently used the street as a free car park.  There should be designated paid limited parking bays for visitors (not more than 4 bays, suitable for small engine cars in a high-density housing area and residents given priority to park above visitors.  Oxfordshire County Council’s resident’s parking policy (September 2014) stated that “The overall aim of the schemes is to give residents and other permit holders priority over others for the available parking space; improve access to and reduce congestion in residential streets and reduce the number of commuters entering the City”.  Instead, the policy should deter local swimmers and patients from driving to the pool or surgery and, if they had to, then charge them for car parking, as happened at the Manzil Way surgeries. The current proposal did not give residents and other permit holders any such priority but instead gave visitors equal priority as under the current 2 hours limited free for all, the situation would not be any better than before, which was the whole reason that PALS had campaigned for a CPZ. There should be clear signage deterring pool/commuting/shoppers from looking for spaces in and around Lake Street and warning deliveries that the streets were narrow and difficult to turn around and explain explicitly what considerate parking looked like.

County Councillor Brad Baines thanked officers for their work on this scheme. Parking in this area had been a contentious issue for many years and the proposal today was a first step in addressing these issues. Significant parking pressure because of Hinksey pool along with other issues around hours of operation for evenings and Sundays there were calls for the scheme to be more ambitious. Although some elements of the scheme were contentious there was still a lot of support for it and he asked the Cabinet Member to accept the recommendations along with a review of the proposals after 12 months as suggested in the report.

The Cabinet Member for Highway Management acknowledged concerns expressed regarding proposals for 2 hour limited waiting and having received confirmation from officers that that element could be looked at as part of the 12 month review he confirmed his decision as follows:

to approve the proposals as advertised for a Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) in the South Oxford (ext.) area, with the following amendments:

(a)          provide business permits to New Hinskey School at the approved annual fee for staff, with the maximum number of such permits to be determined in consultation with the school;

(b)          the proposed limit of 1 permit per property in Abingdon Road, Gordon Street, Green Place, Lake Street, School Place, Stewart Street, Summerfield, Vicarage Lane, and Vicarage Road be increased to 2 permits per property to align with other parts of the CPZ;

(c)          to include those residential moorings on the Oxford Canal in this vicinity for eligibility for resident and visitor permits.

Signed……………………………………………

Cabinet Member for |Highway Management

Date of signing………………………………….