Forum Topic

Parking around Westfield for residents.

I am amazed that this forum has no comments on the lamentably slow progress, if any, in solving the parking and traffic problems for residents who live around the Westfield centre. What will the Westfield consultation in partnership with H&F deliver? What should it provide and change or are you completely unaffected?

Vivienne James ● 5887d32 Comments

Andy Slaughter seems unimpressed and wrote:-Late and sneaked out without the usual H&FNews fanfare, the reviews of parking around Westfield have just been published.  If you read them you will find out why they are so secret – with the exception of Macfarlane Road almost every representation by residents has been ignored.  So for the area closest to Westfield (Zone G, page 42 of the report)  the all-day, seven day a week controls are maintained and extended – but with almost no concession for residents’ visitors who will face bills of more than £20 a day.  A few streets away in Zone J (page 24) again there is no change on the 9-5 Monday to Friday parking, meaning Westfield shoppers can park here for free every evening and at weekends.  Unlike in Fulham where matchday parking is banned around the Fulham and Chelsea grounds, there will be no scheme to help those inconvenienced by QPR home games.  Once again Shepherds Bush residents are getting a second class service. Hmmmm! Actually the free parking on Sundays for residents' visitors is to be restored to us, and free for our visitors after 8pm on all other days, which is as it was before. It has only taken a year!!

Vivienne James ● 5656d

IT seems that the council has made up its mind regarding the parking around Westfield and zone G.http://www.lbhf.gov.uk/Images/CabinetAgenda20091012_tcm21-131257.pdf

Vivienne James ● 5660d

And our pay and display ticket machine was stolen last night opposite Westfield, but this does not deter the parkers!

Vivienne James ● 5748d

Any one know what caused the power loss at Westfield today? Vandals? Gasworks?

Vivienne James ● 5748d

I wonder if it really is temporary. It has already been extended once and, from the look of it, Westfield is not so busy that it can afford to drive punters to Brent Cross and others offering no-charge parking.

Sara Nathan ● 5750d

Sara, 2 hours free parking has assisted slightly but the recent retailers' sales have reinforced the need for a long term solution, things having become particularly difficult again lately. The 2 hour deal is temporary anyway until end September. Next Sale started at 5am on Saturday which threw up particular disturbances as the queue and its cars woke us in the early hours. Not what you need on a Saturday morning. The consultation is ongoing but we lose patience.

Vivienne James ● 5751d

Hasn't the two hours free parking helped at all? You would think it might.

Sara Nathan ● 5751d

I have approached multiple councillors, taken a 95% signed up petition to CL Greenhalgh and Dep Nick Botterill, arranged for and attended discussions re Westfield with Kit Malthouse, Dep Mayor of London. So in terms of speaking to the right people, I am doing my best. I think next stop must be Boris himself but not sure how to go about this. He seems to turn up to every Westfield opening and topping out ceremony, opening of new Wood Lane station etc. Oh yes and we have had the Tory parliamentary candidate, Shaun Bailey round for a fireside chat as well! Any tips on how to make further inroads welcome!

Vivienne James ● 5752d

Vivienne - you have a Conservative council in power and a Conservative Mayor for London - between them they are in a position to achieve something if they have the will. Maybe they don't care? have you approached a local councillor?

Dan Filson ● 5753d

This thread started in March 09 and guess how much has been achieved so far re the title "parking around Westfield."

Vivienne James ● 5755d

Foyles, yes, at the Debenhams corner (Wood Lane last bus stop going south). It isn't at all bad. Had a glass of wine there off a wine writer (whose book I bought and must get round to opening). Unlike the awful CXR branch, it does not have that bizarre two-stage purchasing system (this may long since have been abolished, and is too odd to describe for those too young to have experienced it).

Dan Filson ● 5823d

Isn't there a Foyles in Westfield? Is that any good? I would expect it to be... I have loads of lovely book tokens burning a hole in my self-control at the moment...and am nearly through volume 3 of the Smoking Diaries so on the lookout.

Sara Nathan ● 5824d

I am assured that there is no arrangement for drivers to enter the carpark and collect people and not be charged after June. You can do this currently I suppose because of the 2 hr free deal, but after June, unless the free parking is extended, if you enter the car park, you pay. The rates are not much higher than on street, in that it is only 20p per hour difference, or was last time  I looked.The 272 stops dead opposite NEXT exit so not that far!Books Etc in W12 was good too but closed down... in fact Bush Books in the W12 centre (going back a bit) was brilliant.... but closed.BTW Burger King does a healthy trade and the detritus is to view for all who live around.

Vivienne James ● 5824d

Sara - thanks, certainly worth a try, I'll ask at the till next time I'm there and maybe, if so, switch my custom to this Waitrose (though West Ealing is the best for range of stock in London imho).Dan

Dan Filson ● 5824d

I don't know - haven't done it but a friend in Milton Road Acton W3 has certainly used the service and waxes lyrical at almost no provocation. That's what she told me she has done...so it certainly reaches Acton Central. I think Finchley do it too but don't know about Chiswick.

Sara Nathan ● 5824d

SaraSorry I missed that post until now.Run that past me again : " ...you can take a bus there, troll round Waitrose choosing your basket-full, pay and bus back - and the groceries get delivered for nowt - and with no downward limit on what you spend" I didn't know you could do that! All this time I have battled with enormoous overladen shopping bags on buses. Do you just ask them to deliver it when you reach the till - do you have to have arranged this all in advance - how quickly do they deliver - does the ice cream melt? I know about Ocado and, when my piggybank is full, will use that, but I didn't realise Waitrose let you shop and then they deliver - to what radius?By the way, folks, this isn't secret advertising for JL.Dan

Dan Filson ● 5824d

One car-less neighbour loves it because you can take a bus there, troll round Waitrose choosing your basket-full, pay and bus back - and the groceries get delivered for nowt - and with no downward limit on what you spend.

Sara Nathan ● 5834d

I didn't know about 2 hours free parking (not that I care, as I have no car), but even if that is only for a limited period, I imagine it will continue to be the case that a car coming into the car park to pick someone up (e.g. laden with shopping from Waitrose) whose car is in the carpark for less than 15 minutes does't get charged.Public transport would be improved if the 272 bus ended its journey turning in at the Overground station instead of sitting uselessly outside the Empire. Nobody can realistically be expected to trudge from Westfield to the west side of the green and I'm not enamoured of the stops opposite Debenhams or that beyond the BBC Centre - all quite a trek from the wretched shops. There is a good Foyles though.I am surprised there is nuisance arising from there being a Burger King in there.  I wouldn't have thought they do much take-out business (relative to many others, that is). The entire centre (and the adjoining bus station) has serious design flaws, many caused by the muddled view of whether the bulk of shoppers would/could/should come to it by car or public transport. By comparison with John Lewis in Oxford Street, I prefer John Lewis because with a car you can be in it in a few strides from Cavendish Square car park, and the same is true for public transport. In Westfield you have to walk a long way around the "mall" having already walked a long way from the bus stops etc.

Dan Filson ● 5836d

In the current climate they would be mad to reinstate parking charges in June.

Sara Nathan ● 5844d

I think a combination of Easter hols, sunshine and less disposable income all contribute to a quieter time all round. I think the 2 hr thing MUST help although a lot of people do not know about it and still use the residential streets. I am too close to Westfield to comment for the general Shepherds Bushite and am still plagued by shoppers, staff, taxis, fast food fetchers etc constant picking up and dropping off. No more peaceful evenings! Anyway free 2 hours is only till the end of June.....then? Viv

Vivienne James ● 5845d

Is parking for residents easier now it's free for a couple of hours in Westfield proper? Or is it too soon t tell?

Sara Nathan ● 5845d

Have we talked to the council??? Yes and there is a consultation underway, be it ever so slowly, but they have decided to consult so far and wide that the results are likely to be skewed. We are just one street and the whole area need not change, but our two entrances are opposite Westfield entrances. We have been raising the issue for literally years as this great cathredral to consumerism has been going up. The parking is not that much more pricey in Westfield ... it is a case of convenience, especially for the drop offs, the turn arounds, the "pick up a burger and drop my litter" lot, the taxis, the chauffeurs, the site and wait for my girlfiend and hoot, the can't find the car park etc etc I will not bore you. And it is not free for disabled badge holders in Westfield so there is that additional unforeseen dimension!!

Vivienne James ● 5863d

My daughter tells me there was a story yesterday saying Westfield is going to offer free parking for three weeks in April to see if that brings in the missing crowds.Might almost be worth going then!

Sara Nathan ● 5867d

I have heard a number of friends mention that they are reluctant to visit Westfield because of the amount they charge for car parking. They also have no free parking for disabled drivers I believe.According to recent newspaper reports Westfield is not doing that well right now - shoppers down 40% and this is a bad sign since it only opened some 6 months ago.I can only imagine the nightmare for people living nearby as I suspect many park in the surrounding streets to avoid the high parking charges in Westfield.They thought that by charging high rates it would encourage more people to travel by public transport but I suspect this is not the case. How do they expect shoppers to carry all their purchases home I wonder?Perhaps it would have been a better idea to have a time limit for shoppers, say the first 2 hours free then they would have to start paying - just like some supermarkets do!I also think it would have been agood idea for Westfield to operate a FREE shittle bus service to/from, say, Knightsbridge or Oxford Street to encourage well heeled shoppers to come to Westfield. I suspect some of the shops in 'The Village' not now open as planned simply because of a shortage of customers willing to spend!Most of the shops in Westfield are aimed at high spenders but they really should have considered the local shoppers too with a range of stores which don't cost an arm and a leg for an outfit! Most of the eateries are quite expensive too so for some it becomes more of a place to sit and watch the world go by rather than a place to spend a lot of money.  Just my thoughts in the matter - what do others think?By the way, I think the owners are unrealistic in charging the stores higher rents in this current market - they are now asking almost double per square foot so it's no wonder 'NEXT' stores have refused to pay!It would be such a shame if Westfield is allowed to go on like this - some days the place is really quiet - compare this to the first week or so when there was all the excitement associated with a brand new shopping centre. I just hope it doesn't end up being a 'white elephant'.In the meantime the council really should be listening to the long suffering residents and sort out their problems with lack of parking spaces available.  Maybe more areas for residents only would be a step in the right direction?

Jean F Fernandez ● 5868d

"You did not answer or pursue ..."Yes, sorry, Vivienne.  I was interested in how your comments related to what I'd heard the council had already done.  Unfortunately, there are few local people contributing to this forum yet.I live in Chiswick and always visit Westfield by public transport, so not guilty!Two thoughts:  Did the council put any pressure on Westfield to make the car parking there expensive in order to force more people to use public transport?  If so, it looks as if the balance may need adjusting to ease the pressure on your road and perhaps to get more business for Westfield which is very quiet when I've been there recently.Also, have you talked to the council about more effective enforcement?  For example, how can Westfield staff park there all day?  Is that because enforcement doesn't happen?

Richard Jennings ● 5868d

You did not answer or pursue so;Why do you want to know? Do you care? and have you any INFLUENCE?!! Viv PS the consultation about parking is still going on. Apathy seems top of the hit parade.

Vivienne James ● 5868d

Oh, that's a pity. I thought that the new flats had off road parking for the residents which are numbered.

Vivienne James ● 5885d

We are in zone G and this offers 6.30 to 8pm resident or vistor permit only BUT this makes no difference to me any more as because our street's entrance and exit are opposite two of the three Westfield entries and people:A) park because they can't understand the complex system and then get ticketsB)use a blue disabled permit, many having no ambulatory difficulties whatsoever.C) pay and display "because it is nearer and quicker" SO, in answer, nightmare almost all the time apart from early morning. We get taxis dropping off, Westfield staff paarking all day, chauffeurs, I even saw a coach party in the road, fast food collections from the Burger King (despite assurances of no fast food!!) Doors slamming all the time, radios booming, revving and shrieking. It is an extension of Westfield's car park. And never a place for residents to park when they need to. In addition the council has insituted Saturday regs on Sunday so that visitors have to pay. So now a family Sunday visit can end up costing £20 per day per car. And as for the idea of having a party.....forget it!

Vivienne James ● 5885d

My daughter lives next to Westfield, we are never able to visit, even though she has two babies and isn't able to have a car herself, as in the blocks built next to westfield( Bourbon Lane), the residents can't get a parking place(even if their jobs requires them to use a van). To make matters worse, they can't get a residents' permit from the borough either!

Mireille Glossop ● 5885d

"NIGHTMARE!"Are you in a CPZ?  What are its hours?  When do get the "nightmare" problems?  The council brought in changes to CPZs "G" and "CC" in November (details at http://tinyurl.com/attes4 ).  Did those affect you?  Didn't they work?

Richard Jennings ● 5886d

NIGHTMARE!

Vivienne James ● 5886d

How bad is it?

Sara Nathan ● 5886d