Agenda item

Residents are invited to attend the meeting to discuss concerns in relation to parking on the estate.

Residents of Heathley Park Estate were invited to the meeting to discuss ongoing parking problems on the estate.

The Chair said it was recognised that there were ongoing issues and Councillors had met with Sunlight Laundry on several occasions. She said that the new owners might be open to suggestions from residents regarding issues.

Chris Middleton, Transport Development Officer, was present at the meeting and displayed a plan of the area with proposed changes outlined, as proposed by residents at the previous Beaumont Leys Community Meeting in September 2013, a copy of which is attached to the minutes for information. The following comments were made:

·         The majority of residents were in favour of the proposed changes to the double yellow lines.

·         The majority of residents wanted to remove the trees and shrubs on Heathley Park Road, to remove blind spots.

·         There were requests for extending the double yellow lines into Bramham Close.

Chris said a scheme would be prepared and would be presented to Councillors. New parking restrictions requested would follow a legal process that would take around four to five months to complete. Chris added an order had been made for the re-marking of yellow lines, and white lines at traffic calming islands which would improve safety.

Residents viewed and discussed the presented plan, and made the following comments:

·         Waiting restrictions. There were two-hour parking bays across from County Hall which were monitored once a month.

·         The Police had said people were not parking illegally, but it was not safe, particularly for children. With the parked cars driver could not see what was coming, or children who waited to cross the road.

·         Sunlight Laundry owners had said cars could not park on the car park as lorries required space to manoeuvre.

·         Residents should also park sensibly and not park across driveways.

·         The original planning application needed to be revisited to see what parking arrangements were planned on estate for Sunlight staff and Loros staff and visitors. Loros had improved their parking, though it had been reported visitors still parked on pavements in the area.

·         Some residents asked for parking restrictions to be removed. Any restrictions removed near to the Groby Road would result in traffic in the filter lane to turn into the estate getting stuck. It would also make it difficult for lorries and emergency vehicles to drive around the estate.

·         The Council introduced double yellow lines because there was an issue with parking and residents had asked for them.

·         Introducing restrictions would push the parking issue further into the estate, and would make it difficult for residents’ visitors to park.

·         The park and ride should be used and companies should provide a minibus for their staff.

·         A third party owned the Heathley Park pub car park. Restrictions were brought in because customers to the pub could not park in the car park.

·         Parking by Sunlight employees was also an issue for Stoke Close across the A50, and there had been several near misses.

·         Restrictions should be placed around the whole estate to force cars back into the car park.

·         Unless there was proper enforcement, restrictions on the estate would not work, and could be an incentive for Leicester City Council to gain revenue.

·         There were some people who lived on the estate that drove too quickly over traffic calming speed humps.

·         All residents on the estate should be consulted.

·         Empty land could be made into parking bays.

·         A blockade of the laundry entrance should be undertaken over a couple of days to show the strength of feeling of the residents.

·         A resident suggested an exit from the laundry be developed at the garage a short distance down from the laundry. The Chair said it would not be possible to have an exit onto the road which was a 40mph zone.

·         A request was made that Heathley Park Drive be gritted in view of expected severe weather.

The Chair then summed up the points raised. She said she had contacted the Council’s legal and planning sections for information on the original planning application with regards to parking arrangements, and was awaiting information.

Members said new parking powers had been given to City Wardens to ticket cars, and it had been suggested to the City Mayor that both the Police and City Wardens have powers to ticket parking issues.

The Chair said there were a number of options to put forward in the development of the plan, as follows:

1.    Contact the holding company for Sunlight. Ask officers to look into who they are, draft a letter which showed strength of feeling.

2.    Officers to draft up a couple of realistic ideas to consult on by January end:

a.    Whole estate double yellow lines

b.    Restricted parking

3.    Consultation letter to be sent to all residents with the two options.

The Chair said it would not be possible for officers to send out plans to all residents, but residents would be informed as to where they could view the plans at Council offices.

The Chair thanked officers and residents for attending the meeting.