Interesting Guy. The council has recently told us, in response to an FOI, that it had no evidence for the need for coach parking on the Promenade and no one has asked or lobbied for it. No assessment had been carried out to assess the safety of having coaches parking or turning there. The response went on to say that;“The plan recently provided, included text which implied measures were being introduced to assist coaches but that isn’t the primary aim. Colleagues noted that the plan makes reference to “Existing informal parking area converted to double yellow lines to assist turning coaches and for boarding/alighting of coach passengers” which might help explain concerns that we are encouraging coach parking, turning in this area. The team will be amending the plan and will alter that text accordingly.”If the bays are not needed for coach parking why were they not formalised for car parking, rather than ripping up the verge.The bays have variously been described as "coach parking", coach turning circles" and more recently "coach dropping off points" in various iterations of the council's plans. The description changed each time we asked who the coach provision was for. Only on submitting the FOI were we told that it seems the bays aren't for coaches.Mid week, there are spaces in the bays along Riverside Drive and few cars parked on the river front. Why is the council, whilst encouraging sustainable travel elsewhere, enabling misuse of the a public park, as a car park? Any other council managing a riverside park would seek to reduce and discourage cars from the riverside. That would be consistent with planning guidelines such as the Mayors of London's Blue Ribbon strategy. Additional parking, if needed could have been created along Riverside Drive, away from the river.Why no midweek charges or regulation to prevent the park being used as a free car park? Why no short stay spaces at the weekend, to prevent the park being used as overspill parking for large events in the clubs?Why no assessment made on the impact on safety of having car parking on the Promenade in a park, on a road used for cycling that has no separation of cars and pedestrians / cyclists?Why did the council claim it had carried out a tree assessment on the trees that will be dug into to lay the bays, then say it hadn't when we requested it in the FOI?With regard to coaches parking up there, speak to your officers in traffic. One of them was with me one day when there were three coaches there. We spoke to the driver of onw who had dropped passengers off at the Science Museum and was waiting to pick them up. I can email you his name if you'd like to check. There are few places in London where cars, lorries and coaches can park for hours for free and caravans and campervans for weeks, but Dukes Meadows is well known as one.Guy, you would defend anything the council did. You ought to at least first establish the facts though.
Kathleen Healy ● 894d