On-Street Parking Issues: Supporting residents of Scholars Way Estate Area

A resident of the Scholars Way residential estate contacted Amersham Town Council to complain about the on-street parking issues they experience on working days, caused by people parking there who work on the Raans Road Industrial Estate.

This is an issue that is the responsibility of Buckinghamshire Council rather than Amersham Town Council, but I went to meet the resident to find out more and see if I could help in some way. The main reason why I wanted to become a Councillor was to try to help my local community.

I made a promise to people I met on the doorstep whilst campaigning earlier in the year at the local elections, as did my LibDem Councillor colleagues, that if elected we would not be invisible, that we would be pro-active local champions for issues experienced by residents.

It seems that residents have been complaining for years about the on-street parking problem but nothing had actually been done to resolve the issue. There were a couple of meetings by Bucks Council with residents in January and March 2021, but no progress made.

I contacted Bucks Council to find out some more information and it seemed there was an impression that it was only a few residents who were complaining along with the fact that it would take a lot of money to carry out any changes as a consultation would be required. Basically, it seemed nothing would actually be done until a much wider traffic consultation is carried out, which might be years away and even then any changes are not guaranteed.

There was also the issue of where would these employees park if they were not allowed to park on the estate anymore, would it just push the problem to another residential area?

Speaking to a few residents it seemed there were some real safety issues, particularly on the corner of Centenary Way and Scholars Way. Workers had been parking on the corner reducing visibility and causing cars unexpectedly to meet each other head on.

I asked the Council if some cones could be placed at areas with safety concerns but was told that any cones placed by residents would be unauthorised and the police could take them away at any moment.

I noted this message from the Council, but decided the safety issue was more important and obtained some cones to be placed on the corner of Centenary Way and Scholars Way.

The cones, to my surprise, have remained and seem to be achieving their objective. One resident stated:

‘I have to say whoever has put down three cones on the corner where people used to park had made a massive difference. I can now drive to work without wondering if someone will drive head on into me on the corner.’

To establish the level of concern by residents I carried out a survey of the 107 houses and Pratt House Care Home on the Scholars Way Estate area, including Eagle Close and Quill Hall Lane.

There were 66 responses to the survey (62% of recipients completed the survey), representing 119 adults. All streets of the survey area were represented through responses received.

92% of survey respondents are concerned about on-street parking

92% responded to say they had experienced issues due to on-street parking

91% stated they had Safety concerns

A full report of the survey findings and recommendations can be found here.

Survey Conclusions
The survey clearly demonstrates this is not an issue for just a small handful of residents, it is a problem experienced by the overwhelming majority, with 92% stating they are both concerned and have experienced issues.

Particularly alarming is that 91% stated they had safety concerns with many reports of ‘emergency stops’ and ‘near misses.’ One of the survey respondents was the Care Home on Quill Hall Lane who stated, ‘At Pratt House we often have people parking on the road outside and blocking part of our entrance / exit. The concern is if we have an ambulance they would be blocked.’

As the problems experienced are caused by those who work at the nearby Raans Rd industrial estate, as well as Jewsons, any longer-term solution needs to address where these workers will park instead. Otherwise, this issue will likely get pushed onto another area.

Response
The response by residents to the report has been positive:

‘Just wanted to say thank you SO much for writing your report. It is easily understandable and incredibly thorough, this must have taken you an exceptionally long time. Cant thank you enough for all your ongoing hard work.‘

‘Thanks for this. You have done a FANTASTIC job on it. We are so lucky to have you representing us!’

Next Steps
It is still early days but I feel Bucks Council now realise this is a bigger issue concerning more people than they realised and that the clear safety issues identified mean they should consider action.

A Bucks Council meeting with residents has now been organised for September 6th at 6pm which I will be attending to advocate for local residents but will be recommending they also attend to give their first hand experience.

The following day, 7th September, is the Transport Action Group of the Amersham Community Board where this work will have ensured it is on the agenda. I hope this this report along with good attendance at the meeting on the 6th will get some proper action to resolve this issue for residents.

In addition, I will be putting out polite parking notices on cars that are parking not so considerately to highlight the issues they cause.

So I will keep pushing until we get some action, but would like to say huge thank you to all the residents who took the time to fill out the survey as well as the many who also provided further information about the situation along with photographs.

N