Match Day Parking Working Group Launched


Aiming to review controls in area around Loftus Road

H & F Council has launched a working group to develop solutions to long-running match day parking problems in areas around QPR, Chelsea and Fulham Football Clubs.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the council’s Community Safety, Environment & Resident Services Policy and Accountability Committee (PAC) earlier this month.

Members of the group will work with residents to review the parking controls in areas affected when QPR, Chelsea and Fulham play at home.

Committee chair Cllr Larry Culhane, said: " We’ve heard from residents across the borough about the difficulties they experience in relation to match day parking. This issue can no longer be examined on a piecemeal basis one parking zone at a time. It is a borough-wide problem and needs to be considered by a borough-wide review. This working group will do just that.

" We know that parking is an important issue for many people and we want to be clear that we are here to work with residents to come up with the best solution."

Residents at the meeting told committee members of their parking experiences during match days, describing problems associated with visitors to the borough flocking to parking zones that border those with match day restrictions.

The issue also attracted a lot of discussion between local people online, who took advantage of the comment facility at the bottom of the council’s parking PAC news story.

Warbeck Road resident, Andrew Walker, said: "Further controls on match day parking would be very welcome. Residents find it difficult or impossible to park for most of the day of a match; public transport links for football supporters are very good since Westfield was developed, and there is no need for them to park in residential streets."

The PAC meeting also featured a discussion about the borough’s Smart Visitor Permit (SVP) scheme. H&F Council’s parking projects manager told those in attendance that a survey would be carried out in mid-September seeking feedback on the SVP card to establish what improvements are required.

For more information about the parking task force or the SVP survey email committee coordinator Craig Bowdery at craig.bowdery@lbhf.gov.uk.

You can read the agenda for the meeting  here.

September 29, 2014