Forum Topics

A fundamental flaw in Hounslow's Parking Strategy

If you look at the two documents that the council is currently consulting in it is hard not to be taken aback by the difference between the rhetoric and the reality.While it is a perfectly laudable aim to discourage car use and encourage sustainable transport measures, this is hard to achieve if you have a huge vested interest in encouraging people to drive which Hounslow does because it operates the largest number of car parking spaces in the borough.These are concentrated in the Hounslow town area which is also very well provided with privately run car parks so there would be a limited impact if the council were to get out of the car park business and bring much needed funds to its coffers by selling the sites for development.However, the 'strategy' is to upgrade the existing car parks and provide more when they deem demand requires it.The kerbside strategy on the other hand is to squeeze space even further with more parklets, EV chargers, bike hangers and cycle lanes. All of these are laudable, and some may even be necessary, but the report acknowledges that there are already parts of the borough where demand for residential spaces already outweighs supply.This includes Chiswick which already has the lowest level of daily car usage and pays more that the rest of the borough put together in permit charges.Chiswick's main car park at Sainsbury's is under continued threat of development and even that provides a fraction of the space available if you want to park in Hounslow. Squeezing further the limited available space will achieve almost nothing in encouraging people to switch modes of transport but will further reduce footfall on the High Road.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 6d5 Comments ● 2d

Forthcoming Community Meetings - 13th and 18th September

Two forthcoming community meetings have been organised by Brentford Voice. The subjects of both meetings have an important bearing on the future of our area.The first will discuss the ongoing consultation by Hounslow Council on the Emerging Brentford Master Plan. It is taking place on Wednesday 13th September at 6.30 p.m. at Brentford Free Church. Boston Manor Road and is open to all.Council officers and their consultants will present the context and content of the Masterplan. There will be ample time to comment on the Masterplan and to ask questions.The following Monday 18th September at 6.30pm there will be a community meeting at the Holiday Inn on ideas for the future of Brentford’s disused railway embankment, which runs immediately to the west of Commerce Road. The meeting is open to all.At the same venue in January 2023 there was a similar event, at the same venue, which was very well-attended. Brentford Voice was seeking the community’s views on whether it should go ahead with the commissioning of a Feasibility Study on the future use of the embankment. The almost unanimous view was that it should proceed.With grant funding from Hounslow Council, Brentford Voice appointed consultants to prepare a Feasibility Study. Adams & Sutherland (A&S), architecture, landscape, and urban design consultants were selected to produce the report. At the meeting on 18 September A&S will present their first ideas. This will be followed by questions and answers and a general discussionAny questions or comments about both of the meetings can be emailed to info@brentfordvoice.co.ukMore information is available here -http://www.brentfordtw8.com/default.asp?section=info&page=conbrentfordvoice030.htm

Jim Storrar ● 16d11 Comments ● 10d