Decision details

PETITION 2 - NEW PARKING CHARGES SURROUNDING THE GREAT PARK

We the undersigned petition Surrey County Council to Aim for the council to re-evaluate or dissolve the new charges put in place in the following locations. Englefield Green, - Bagshot Road, TW20 0RS - A30 Crossroads, junction with St Judes Road and Bakenham Lane, TW20 0BP Windsor Great Park, - Blays Lane, from crossing point at the back of Ilex Close to Wick Road, TW20 0PB - Wick Road, parking bay by cul-de-sac, TW20 0HJ. - Wick Road entire length, from A30 to Wick Lane, TW20 0HJ - Wick Lane entire length, from Wick Road to Bishopsgate Road, TW20 OHT - Bishopsgate Road, TW20 0XU - Crimp Hill, TW20 0YB Virginia Water, - A30 London Road junction with A329 Blacknest Road, GU25 4NY - A30 London Road entrance to ACS International School, TW20 0AQ These are a series of places where parking has previously been free and accessible for all. These charges are now being put in place to discourage the selected few from parking on grass verges, but its stopping families, locals and other members outside of the community from visiting.

Wishing for the council to discuss, re-evaluate and potentially revoke the extremely steep parking charges that have now been put in place around the local area. These charges are for spaces that have previously been free and accessible for all. After asking online, it seems that no one is happy about the new charges being implemented and have been asked to raise these concerns with local represent ivies. I understand not everyone has the time or energy to email their local representative individually, so this petition is a quick and easy way for people to express and back their views and disagreement with the new charges put in place. With enough signatures it should express the upset to the committee when they meet to discuss these kinds of issues, with hope that the appropriate action be taken to evaluate the situation.

As well as the charge, there are also a variety of other issues raised from charging for these spaces. From the sign postage put up in the new spaces, not only are visitors being charged for the spaces, the council is now requesting cars be parked parallel, not at the head on angle it currently is. This is limiting the amount of people that can drive to explore the local area and the Great parks.  Mothers and fathers are already expressing concern on how this stops them from taking their children to activities like scouts or football, and mothers are questionings how they will be able to afford to take their children to the Great park in summer like they have for years.  These are just a few of many reasons as to why the council should revoke or re-evaluate the parking charges they are trying to put in place.

Submitted by: Mia Cockayne

Signatures: 328

Cabinet Member Response:

Thank you for contacting us about the new parking management scheme recently introduced along the A30 in Virginia Water and some of the peripheral roads around Windsor Great Park and Englefield Green.

Since the Covid pandemic, Windsor Great Park and Virginia Water have experienced significantly higher visitor numbers and it has been necessary to introduce parking restrictions to help maintain access and road safety in the area. Roads such as the A30, Bishopsgate Road, Blacknest Road, Christchurch Road, Crimp Hill, Ridgemead Road, Wick Road, Wick Lane, and Woodside Way have all experienced frequent obstructive parking caused by high visitor numbers, particularly in fine weather. Visitor vehicles overflow from the Crown Estate car parks within the park or choose to avoid paying to use them and park on the surrounding highway.

As a result, we have subsequently developed and implemented a series of restrictions to manage parking on the highway network around the park. This includes the introduction of parking charges into the parking areas along the A30/Blays Lane and Bishops Gate Road. In addition, we altered the layout of the parking bays from echelon to parallel in two of these locations to help traffic and pedestrians pass and negotiate these areas more safely. Double yellow lines have been introduced elsewhere to prevent parking in unsuitable areas, including replacing the poorly understood clearway on the A30.

The purpose of parking charges in transportation terms, is that they discourage visitors from driving around the local highway network looking for free parking, which adds to congestion and pollution. By having charges that are slightly higher (or at the same level) on the highway, visitors are encouraged to go straight to a car park which is generally more convenient.

Our original proposals were to implement parking charges between 9am and 6.30pm every day, however, as a consequence of the consultation process, the restrictions were reduced to 11am-5pm. This was to allow free parking for local residents (for dog walking, exercising etc) in the morning and evenings which seemed to be most popular.

We will monitor and review the effectiveness of the new restrictions over the coming months, particularly the impact on local businesses, however the initial feedback is that parking and traffic management in the area is much better controlled following the introduction of the restrictions with cars and other road users being able to pass more easily and with less congestion in the area.