Seyi and Rachel write…

Tweeted by @rectripp

We understand that creating the Forest Gate North (FGN) Residents Parking Zone has caused a lot of questions, and some confusion, and also that some parts of the process haven’t been communicated as clearly or as well as we would have liked.

So we’ve decided to publish two blog posts on parking, the first outlining the processes that we’ve all gone through in order to get to where we are now, and the second (that’s this post) to give full information on the results of the second stage consultation about the hours and days of restrictions.

The main reasons for this are to:

• increase transparency between the Council and residents
• hopefully alleviate some concerns residents have about the restrictions
• publish more information here than can be published on the Newham Councll webpage, the design and structure of which mean we can only put brief information there.

In particular, we know that the question of what hours and days the RPZ should run for is a controversial one. Opinions are strongly held on whether the hours should be as short as possible, or as long as possible, with people in some cases feeling very passionate about their view. That is why we wanted to publish the results of that consultation in full, to show the data behind the decision making process.

During this consultation,  residents and businesses in roads within the proposed area of restrictions were invited to send in their views by filling in a questionnaire. This gave residents and businesses the opportunity to share their views on how parking demand should be managed in their area and to comment on the design of Forest Gate North RPZ.

Forest Gate North Stage 2 Returns-  -Summary table

The consultation on hours and days was undertaken between 6th June and 1st July 2016. A total of 3500 consultation packs were distributed to all addresses within the area.

A total of 677 valid completed questionnaires were returned before the closing deadline, giving an overall response rate of 19%. The results of the consultation by road are shown in the table above.  Of the total valid responses, 57% agreed with the design, 43% were against.

The process of agreeing how the operational days and times for the new FGN zone was tricky. Whilst Monday to Friday had 249 returns, the weekend, Mon-Sat  (187) or Mon-Sun (194) had a total of 381 meaning that the majority of residents wanted at least some of the weekend included. Having considered this in conjunction with the need to protect residents closest to the shops on a Saturday, and bearing in mind that there was also significant support for the shorter days it was recommended that the most suitable time would be Mon-Sat, taking into account the competing views and  the majority results. This will also protect the area from the controls in adjacent zones that also operate Mon-Sat and prevent the area becoming swamped at the weekend. The results and recommendations were discussed with Rachel and agreed before being formally agreed with Cllr Ken Clark (who’s the Cabinet portfolio holder).

Of those of the residents who were against the design 21% were against the zone but also asked for more parking spaces and some extra  double yellow lines (especially along the north of Capel Road). Based on these comments we revised the design drawing and recommended that the scheme, be implemented. The final map design can be found here, here and here.

Forest Gate North Stage 2 Returns-  -Full table*

*(I’m afraid we aren’t able to this any bigger) Alternatively you can view it on scribd which is a bit fiddly.

One final note: earlier this week there has been some comments about the physical work to create the restrictions: the poles and signs etc. Obviously restricting parking does create more of what is called ‘street furniture’ and to a certain extent we all have to live with it. Seyi relayed our concerns about the new poles in the ward for the RPZ to the Head of Highways in Newham Council. Seyi received this feedback:

The posts would normally be put to the front of footway, but due to statutory undertaker apparatus [this basically means something under the pavement] in the footway this has not been possible and the posts have been installed further back.

2. Our contractor RMS, were instructed yesterday to install the posts to the back of footway where there isn’t a statutory undertaker problem.

But if you are concerned that a pole or a sign has been put in incorrectly, or is blocking the pavement, or if you have other worries could you please email us, ideally with a picture and with the exact address of the place that you’re concerned about? We can then pass this on to officers and make sure it’s been done as it should be.