Parking changes

Tue 7 Feb 2023, 14:13

Thanks o the yellow lines as a resident of Thames Street with no of street parking we are now seeing commuter cars parked in Thames Street on a Monday which remain in place until Saturday. Commuters are also parking further up Nine Acres, consequently Thames Street residents or visitors are now forced to park some considerable distance at the top of Nine Acres . Seems like the council has has no intention or commitment to deal with the commuter parking issue. Time for a change in May elections.

Sat 4 Feb 2023, 08:47

Can I also add thanks to the TC & OCC for the new build out on Enstone Rd.  It may not slow every boy racer but it's had a slowing effect on incoming traffic which has reduced noise too.  More of this type of chicane traffic calming please, especially as part of a new 20 mph rollout.

Fri 3 Feb 2023, 22:47

Philip, there was just this kind of bus in the 2000’s, funded by OCC.  It was created following a campaign by local councillors.  It not only covered Charlbury but Leafield and Finstock.

Sadly it ended due to lack of use and Tory cuts to local authorities.  When I used it I was surprised that people chose to walk up to the hill in the rain rather than pay the 50p fare!

Fri 3 Feb 2023, 14:32 (last edited on Fri 3 Feb 2023, 16:17)

I would like to congratulate the Town Council / WODC / OCC on the introduction of the very modest parking restrictions which support the Highway Code requirement not to park within 9 metres of a road junction. They make the Nine Acre junction an altogether safer place, reducing the risk of gridlock and delay for emergency vehicles. Another benefit is that non-locals can now see the road signs at the junction, reducing the number of wrong slots made by delivery drivers and the like. 

Non-enforcement of Dyers Hill parking restrictions seems like a cop-out to me. I can understand David Cook's discontent. If I lived where he does, I too would be pressing for a resolution of the rail commuter parking problem. Job half-done thus far? Glass half full or half empty?

Maybe GWR could include parking in the cost of a London season ticket ? or would that exacerbate the problem? I wonder how much it would cost to run a shuttle bus on a route to/from the station and around the town, maybe for a nominal £1 or £2 (like the flat fare scheme). OCC needs to come up with something re parking at Charlbury station. Large scale new housebuilding that lacks infrastructure and local employment opportunities equals more commuters and vehicle movements.

Thu 2 Feb 2023, 16:10

When I lived in Thames Street in 1999-2000 we regularly had to park our little red Fiesta halfway up Nine Acres Lane, in the spaces opposite the Cottsway homes.

That was before station parking charges were introduced, and before it became commonplace to buy an armoured personnel carrier as a family car.

Thu 2 Feb 2023, 15:50

How about resident parking restrictions for example 11-midday for all streets within a 15/20 min walk of the station? (Or further if necessary). As the problem does seem to be getting much worse. 

Thu 2 Feb 2023, 14:50

That 1 hour restriction doesn't work on Church Lane and Dyers Hill.  It required residents to be moving their cars during the day for an hour in order to avoid receiving tickets, so parking enforcement was suspended.

Wed 1 Feb 2023, 16:39

As predicted and made clear to the council the residents of Thames Street have been unable to park this week due to rail commuters parking their cars in the limited space available. These are not daily commuters they are commuters who are away for more than a week so as to avoid expensive parking at the station. Residents of Thames Street are now having to park some distance up Nine Acres. In the absence of parking permits there needs to be a single line painted in Thames Street with parking restriction limited to one hour at a certain time between 0800 and 1800hrs daily as is the case at the top of Dyers Hill. 

Sat 28 Jan 2023, 23:11

A speed camera toward the bottom of 9-Acres would solve the speeding problem nicely.

Sat 28 Jan 2023, 14:51

Carchitecture, the lack of public transport (not just here) and thinking among some people it is their right to have a driving licence and own/use a vehicle, are the main problems. If the station car park was free, it would help a lot, why is it not? The government has also shied away (so far) from road charging, that would also make a big difference, with car use, not necessarily parking though. Several European countries have/are experimenting with free or greatly reduced fares, whilst here the opposite is almost true, the £2.00 single bus fare for three months being the exception perhaps. Also with the number of vehicles increasing, with 35M+ cars in the UK, it will only get worse unless they become too expensive (cash and  the environmental costs) to have and use. Increases in population will also contribute to the problem, more people, more houses, more vehicles etc. As Spike Milligan once said very many years ago "I've put three more cars on the road", referring indirectly that his three children would very likely own a car at some point in time.

Mon 23 Jan 2023, 18:59

On a more serious note, I remember Dr Bob Bixby of the Planning School at Brookes - must be 25 years ago now - saying the key to traffic congestion in Oxford central area was the amount of car PARKING available. Particularly the surprising quantity of private, non-residential parking (which was much larger than people realised) in the central area.

Mon 23 Jan 2023, 16:46

One of the nice things about Mogadishu, I have heard it said,  is a delightful lack of local government forms...

Sun 22 Jan 2023, 20:30

Who would be a councillor eh? Not sure what would happen regarding bins, schooling, street lights etc, if the "sodding council just went away." If people don't like local government policy they can always stand for election, but that would require thinking outside one's own self interest.

Sat 21 Jan 2023, 09:06

In response to Helen, that is a far higher percentage than took part in the consultation in Witney over the 20mph speed limit. As always Charlbury residents take a greater interest in local matters than the population in general!

Sat 21 Jan 2023, 00:31

For the record, I’m disagreeing with Charlie M below….

Fri 20 Jan 2023, 20:12 (last edited on Fri 20 Jan 2023, 20:14)

I wrote to the county council suggesting a meeting with the residents of Thames street to discuss the yellow lines because I did not consider that decisions should be made without consulting with them but nothing happened. Because I have off street parking I Will probably benefit as my house will be more valuable but that is not the point , other residents of Thames street do not deserve to be treated with contempt.

Fri 20 Jan 2023, 19:47

The population of 4000 as mentioned in this trail , what is the validity of this this number ?

Fri 20 Jan 2023, 18:07 (last edited on Fri 20 Jan 2023, 18:10)

Some maths corrections: 'Paper responses were 51 support, 3 oppose. Online responses were 55 support, 6 oppose'. That makes 115 total responses not 75, out of 2800 total residents (2011 census numbers). Still not a huge percentage, but I imagine no consultation gets huge percentages - Liz will know better than me.

Fri 20 Jan 2023, 14:53

Liz, 

no need for the big sigh, as residents of Charlbury we have the right to challenge the actions of our elected council. Sad out of a population of over 4000 people in Charlbury only 75 people responded to the consultation. I assume the 20 mile limit in all towns in West Oxfordshire were also following a consultation?

Fri 20 Jan 2023, 07:02

On which theme, if only there were a like button next to Father Clive's news post today.

Thu 19 Jan 2023, 23:12

Liz, Gareth & others .. thanks for your hard work with all of this. Just why people on these boards see fit to refer to you as the "sodding council" or to complain about the patent improvement at the bottom of Nine Acres is baffling.

Keep up the good work!

Thu 19 Jan 2023, 18:19 (last edited on Thu 19 Jan 2023, 18:24)

To correct David Cook's statement:

The [previous] Town Council consulted residents of Thames Street and Nine Acres Lane in 2020.  As the report says:

'Paper responses were 51 support, 3 oppose. Online responses were 55 support, 6 oppose'

So the views of the substantial majority have been reflected, not ignored.  You can't please everyone.....

[Edit: the parking restriction wasn't taken all the way up to the garage, precisely because if it had been opened all the way up, every dangerous driver would be accelerating past said garage.]

Thu 19 Jan 2023, 18:08 (last edited on Thu 19 Jan 2023, 18:12)

Deep sigh...it is a truth universally acknowledged that you cannot please all of the people all of the time..........

Nine Acres Lane will soon have a 20mph speed limit. No plan for speed bumps - these were introduced about 20 years ago and had to be removed because they caused so many problems, not least to the buses.  

Thu 19 Jan 2023, 10:42

Having witnessed traffic speeding since the introduction of double yellow lines I guess the council will now need to waste more money on putting in place traffic calming measures such as speed humps. It's a pity the council ignored the views  of people living in the Thames Street/Nine Acres road junction area.

Thu 19 Jan 2023, 09:43

The parked cars did have a bit of a traffic calming effect. People are whizzing around the corner from Charlbury Road now... 

Thu 19 Jan 2023, 09:17

The double yellow lines are now in place at the bottom of Nine Acres Lane.

Cycling through this morning it was much safer than it has been, though I do worry a little about the effect on speeds on Nine Acres Lane.

yours sanctimoniously etc.

Thu 19 Jan 2023, 08:44

Am I alone in wishing that the sodding council (of whichever hue they may be!) would just go away (other, more vociferous versions of "go away" are available), and leave Charlbury and its people to carry on with their lives as they have done for ... well ... a very long time?!

Pretty much, yes!

Wed 18 Jan 2023, 22:28

Probably?

Wed 18 Jan 2023, 20:25 (last edited on Mon 23 Jan 2023, 10:07)

I bow to the majority

Wed 18 Jan 2023, 20:01

Nothing has changed with regards to the parking of vehicles in close proximity to the station since the introduction of parking charges ! 

Wed 18 Jan 2023, 19:59

As I understand it, parking enforcement transfers from WODC (who have never really done it) to OCC on 1 April.

As I've said, from experience, there will be any number of individual circumstances that can govern residents' parking zone policies.  There is a charge (currently £65) per household for a single permit, and rules vary on how many permits a household is allowed.  Fundamentally, a zone would be pointless in the situation we have had under WODC, where levels of parking enforcement could reasonably be described as risible. 

Residents' permit zones are easiest to run on terraced streets where there is absolute equality in terms of individual households' relationship with the road.  As nobody to date (as far as I know) has asked the Town Council to form a view on this,  I'd encourage people to read the rules in the link [below] 

To go back on topic, some of this week's cones (on The Slade for example) aren't connected to the parking changes, so again, please don't assume there will be double yellow lines wherever they've appeared!

Wed 18 Jan 2023, 18:30

Thank you, Gareth, that’s helpful (if discouraging in so far as it seems that there are only two residents’ parking zones in the county outside Oxford).  But if, as I understood was the case, enforcement has now transferred from WODC to OCC, will the Town Council now not need to form a view?

I’d only add that, whilst it’s true there are insufficient parking spaces in these three streets for the houses in them, that shortage is exacerbated (as Liz accepts) by spaces being taken up by users of the station.

Wed 18 Jan 2023, 15:32

Stephen - residents' parking schemes are a matter for the County Council.  Those interested in this issue might want to look at their rules before commenting in detail, particularly those regarding second and additional vehicles per household.

My past experience as a resident and councillor in areas with such zones is mixed.  There will be a number of households with individual issues that will not fit neatly into the rules.  Some houses with off-street parking will demand permits, for example.

West Oxfordshire has, until it surrenders its 'enforcement' function (ha!) to OCC, opposed all resident parking schemes, so the Town Council has not had to form an opinion.  There are not physically enough spaces on Church Lane, Thames Street and Dyers' Hill to provide everyone with a parking space near them, and I would encourage people to read the small print before taking a firm view one way or the other.  As an individual Town Councillor, I am grateful not to have deal with the volume of issues generated by these schemes, having got several T-shirts to that effect.

Wed 18 Jan 2023, 11:36

Given what Liz says about the case for introducing residents’ parking on Dyers Hill and Church Lane, what is the Town Council’s position on that?

Wed 18 Jan 2023, 08:45

Hans,

A technical error by OCC meant they haven't done the statutory side of things correctly for the extension of the 30mph limit along Spelsbury Road, which has been on the Town Council's wishlist for several years.  

This is being picked up with the statutory consultation on the extension of the 20mph limit.  We are awaiting dates for that from OCC, but it will be advertised here.

Wed 18 Jan 2023, 08:20

Gareth

Will the speedlimit changes (as in the TRO) be done now as well? 

Tue 17 Jan 2023, 20:12

See https://charlbury-tc.gov.uk/news/charlbury-proposed-30mph-speed-limit-parking-restrictions/

Tue 17 Jan 2023, 20:11

Hello Gareth, there are tonight cones on Thames Street which are placed outside

Talbot house , are you saying double yellow lines will only apply to the area under the lamp post and opposite Nine Acres? Thanks

Tue 17 Jan 2023, 19:32 (last edited on Tue 17 Jan 2023, 20:08)

The only new double yellow lines on Thames Street are in an area where it is already illegal to park under the Highway Code.  It is a matter of one car length and will help avoid some of the issues of vehicles blocking each other that currently afflicts that junction.

If you write to West Oxfordshire about parking restrictions, you are unlikely to receive much of a response unless it's about the Spendlove car park, which is the only area of any size that they control in Charlbury.  Parking control is a matter for the County Council as the highway authority.

Tue 17 Jan 2023, 18:46

The issue is the placing of double yellow lines in Thames Street. I wrote to West Oxfordshire Council requesting consideration be given to either parking permits or as in the case of Dyers Hill to put down a single yellow line together with a daytime parking limit to deter commuter parking. I have to-date received no response. Was the public consultation ref Nine Acres published in full?

Once again I take this opportunity to ask the Council to reconsider the parking arrangement for Thames Street, there are four properties in Thames Street which have no access to off street parking who will now be required to park some considerable distance away assuming there is space available. The commuters who are parking at the bottom end of Nine Acres will now park further up the road thus further limiting parking for Thames Street residents.

Tue 17 Jan 2023, 17:53 (last edited on Tue 17 Jan 2023, 18:03)

Town and county councils did a very full consultation before the new parking restrictions were introduced - there is plenty of evidence to show that the extension of the double yellow lines on Nine Acres Lane is a popular move with residents from all parts of the  town.  There is usually plenty of parking available further up the road.  Not parking close to the corner will make it much safer, even if a few people feel they are being disadvantaged by not being able to park there.

If residents' parking were introduced in one part of the town, it could displace parking to other parts.  So if this is something that the Town Council wants to pursue it would have to be consulted across the town and the new administrations at County and at WODC would be happy to consider it.  There is a case for introducing residents' parking on Dyers Hill and Church Lane to discourage people using the station from parking there but again, this would have to be subject to wider consultation.

Tue 17 Jan 2023, 13:31

Richard, the council has totally ignored the concerns of the residence of Thames Street and pushed ahead regardless, there  are now only two parking spots to accommodate the residence of Thames Street who do not have off street parking, the issue of parking in Thames Street has now been made a great deal worse by the actions of the council. I would like to see evidence to back up your comment that double yellow lines in Nine Acres was the most popular request.

The council has  totally failed the residence of Thames Street and other areas of Charlbury by refusing to introduce a residence parking scheme. Nobody is asking for a guaranteed parking space outside their house only that limited parking should be for residence and not commuters.

Finally I do not think it is for you to lecture people with regard what they should or should not do, I agree leaving angry notes is not the way forward but do not need sanctimonious lectures from you.

Tue 17 Jan 2023, 11:21

Or, with the abundance of public transport in Charlbury, you could do what me and my wife have done for the 2nd time in 10 years - not have a car at all.  Good for the environment, saves a fortune, and forces one to get fitter.

I realise that some need to make e.g. journeys to/from work or wherever so it's not an option for them.  If we need to go further afield we hire a car or get a taxi. Oh, and free up a parking space!

Tue 17 Jan 2023, 07:13

Add slashing of tyres to that list in certain parts of town.

Mon 16 Jan 2023, 20:42

Hallelujah!

Mon 16 Jan 2023, 19:56

The cones are out around the Thames Street/Nine Acres Lane junction and a few other places, and signs have started to go up (e.g. outside the Pharmacy). It looks like the parking changes are about to be implemented. I remember from my time on the Town Council that double yellows at the bottom of Nine Acres were the most frequent request ever, so no doubt this will be popular.

Everyone likes to park outside their house, but there are too many cars for this to be possible even today. The changes will mean some people have to park further away from their homes than at present – for example, Nine Acres Lane is often used by Thames Street residents. 

With that in mind, could I suggest a New Year’s Resolution that people stop leaving angry notes on windscreens?

If there’s a car outside your house for a few days, it doesn’t mean it’s a station commuter or whatever. It’s probably just another Charlbury resident like you trying to park their car somewhere.

If the car doesn’t move for a few days, again, it’s probably not been abandoned, it’s probably one of Charlbury’s many home-workers who just hasn’t needed to drive it anywhere for a while.

I know we would all love there to be a guaranteed space outside our houses for our own cars, Aunt Mabel’s Saturday visit, and the Amazon van, but there isn’t enough road for that to be possible. If a car isn’t on double yellows and isn’t causing an obstruction, it has the right to be there. Please let’s have fewer stroppy notes this year and a bit more acceptance that everyone’s just trying to do their best.