It’s been a while coming – but if you’re in the affected area and haven’t responded, Monday is your last chance to respond to Greenwich Council’s consultation into introducing parking controls in most of SE7.
Strictly speaking, most of Charlton is already in a controlled parking zone (CPZ) – but only streets close to Charlton and Westcombe Park stations are covered by parking permits. This consultation asks (in the vaguest of ways) whether you would like to see permit parking in your street.
Parking controls in the area go back to 2000, when the whole area was in a CPZ for the Millennium Dome, although that area was quickly shrunk after the Dome closed and the current parking regime was introduced in 2007.
Since then, things have changed somewhat – neighbours of the new Synergy development on Victoria Way have complained about contractors parking up in their area while the expansion of the Bugsby’s Way retail strip has led to more rat-running and more parking. Some streets have been blighted, others remain blissfully unaffected.
Meanwhile, crowds at Charlton Athletic have dipped, but are on their way back up – and the club’s current position in the Championship means more night matches, at times when permit controls do not apply. (Streets south of Charlton Park, which often take the brunt of matchday parking, are not part of this consultation.)
It’s worth pointing out that some of the streets worst affected are right next to roads that already have permit controls – as the council warns, any expansion of permits could push problems into neighbouring streets. (And then another consultation a decade later.) The £100 annual cost of a basic parking permit will also be a consideration – will the extra funds improve the notoriously poor enforcement of existing parking controls?
Your own circumstances will no doubt dictate how you respond, but it is worth considering other people when you respond – those in other streets, and those who simply want to cross the road without having to peer out from between other people’s cars.
The website link appears to have been up and down during the consultation – part of the problem appears to be the council expecting people to type in a full address from the consultation sheet because it is not listed on its consultation website. Try clicking here to have your say.
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