Transport for London has bought 21 new vehicle removal trucks and opened nine new car pounds to crack down on illegally-parked vehicles causing congestion and hazards on London’s Red Routes. That’s one truck for every 17 miles of Red Route.
Launching the scheme on 27 February, head of enforcement at TfL Patrick Troy said, “Our new [towaway] vehicles will help keep London’s busiest roads clear and the traffic moving.”
But the story on the ground has been very different. In the two weeks since the London Wide Removals Service started, TfL have tried to remove six vehicles from Stonecot Hill, none of which were obstructing traffic flow or causing a safety hazard. While all were technically breaking the law, they were safely away from the traffic on the main road in marked loading bays.
Now concern is growing over obstructions and hazards caused by TfL’s own removal vehicles.
Continue reading ‘Zero tolerance: TfL declares war on illegal Red Route parking’
Planning Alerts is a free service that sends you email notices about planning applications near you.
This is easier than hunting through the council’s website as that information is not grouped by locality, so you have to hunt through the entire borough’s applications to find ones near you.
Planning Alerts works for many boroughs, currently including Sutton and Croydon, but not Merton.
If you use an RSS reader, this information is also available as an RSS feed.
Click here to see a map of applications near Stonecot Hill.
A young girl has been injured while crossing Stonecot Hill with her mother. Police and paramedics attended the scene at around midday today after the girl was hit by a Merton council waste vehicle while using the crossing island just south of Ash Road. An air ambulance also attended the scene.
According to a witnesses, the girl who is said to be around four years old and her mother were in the central island of the crossing when she was struck by the vehicle.
As of 3.30pm, Stonecot Hill remains closed to traffic between the Woodstock and Burleigh Road while police examine the scene and the vehicle involved. Buses are being diverted via Sutton Common Road.
Our thoughts are with the girl and her family. We wish her a full and speedy recovery.
UPDATED 6.00pm: Stonecot Hill has reopened to traffic in both directions.
Police examining the vehicle
Air ambulance
See also: Sutton Guardian, Girl Hit By Lorry in North Cheam
Paul Burstow visited Stonecot Hill on Friday (19 October) to talk with local traders and residents about parking facilities and improving the area.
Sutton and Cheam’s Liberal Democrat MP walked the length of Stonecot Hill’s shopping parade to assess the difficulties caused by current parking regulations and the state of the street scene generally.
Mr Burstow will be writing to Transport for London to clarify the parking consultation process which will start in November, following a petition from 2000 local people. He will also encourage progress on various street maintenance issues.
The Sutton Guardian have run an article about the Stonecot Hill parking petition on page four of today’s edition.
I do not and cannot speak for everyone that lives, works and visits Stonecot Hill. That is why the parking petition simply calls for a full consultation of everyone concerned about the issue. However, TfL’s spokesman entirely misunderstands many shopkeepers’ points of view and so I have written this response:
It is unsurprising that parking on Stonecot Hill’s Red Route (A24) is so difficult as Transport for London (TfL) seem to have no idea what local people’s concerns are nor what they are asking for.
TfL’s spokesman is entirely right in saying that extending parking times might damage local businesses. Some people might park for very long periods and prevent passing motorists from stopping to shop. That is why local shopkeepers are calling for more short-term parking and less long-term parking. Shopkeepers would also like to see some of the 20-minute loading bays turned into 20-minute parking bays to enable more people to stop, shop quickly and leave without risking a fine.
Over 2000 people signed the Stonecot Hill parking petition because their concerns and complaints about the way TfL are managing this area have been ignored. We look forward to TfL announcing a definite date for a public consultation to ensure that all local residents, businesses and shoppers are heard at last. We are still waiting.
The Stonecot Hill parking petition has closed with 2004 signatures. It was run for an extra week to bring the total above the 2000 point.
The petition calls on mayor Ken Livingstone and Transport for London to review parking arrangements on Stonecot Hill due to widespread dissatisfaction with the current regulations and the way they are enforced.
Local politicians are backing the petition. Liberal Democrat councillors Tony Brett Young and Abigail Lock visited Stonecot Hill recently to talk to shopkeepers and local residents about the issue. For the Conservatives, council candidate Ray Hilldrup has been helping to collect signatures locally.
The mayor’s office has not yet responded to a request on 1 August to make arrangements to receive a delegation to deliver the petition to City Hall.
1891 shoppers, traders and residents have backed a petition asking mayor Ken Livingstone and Transport for London to review parking facilities on Stonecot Hill’s Red Route.
The petition states that the lack of well-planned and managed parking on Stonecot Hill causes shoppers travelling by car to go elsewhere and threatens traders’ livelihoods. It also calls attention to the apparent contradiction between environmental and economic policies that aim to support local shopping and small business and the current situation on Stonecot Hill.
Edward Luckhurst, partner of Plumb Crazy, said, “The current parking arrangements have been in place for years and they haven’t worked. This petition is the end of a two-year campaign to have local people listened to. We want to see a fairer system that balances people’s need to stop and park to shop with the need to keep traffic moving through the area. The current situation benefits no-one.”
The petition will be presented to Ken Livingstone at City Hall next week.
Two cars were involved in a serious accident at the Woodstock crossroads during this morning’s rush hour.
A car approaching the junction from Sutton Common Road hit the side of another travelling across the lights onto Stonecot Hill and overturned it. Neither driver was seriously injured but a fire crew attended the scene and cut away the roof of one of the cars to minimise the risk in moving the driver.
Traffic was delayed while the wrecked vehicles were cleared.
The Stonecot Hill parking petition, which has been running for six weeks, has come to an end.
The petition is being organised by Ted and Ernie Luckhurst from Plumb Crazy and calls on London mayor Ken Livingstone and Transport for London to hold a formal public consultation of Stonecot Hill’s parking. Many shopkeepers and local residents feel that the current arrangements are inadequate and that local businesses are losing custom due to their enforcement.
The petition forms are currently being collected and counted. Anyone with a form should return them to Plumb Crazy.
