Frustration over new parking rules near Westfield

Residents living to the west of Westfield say they were not consulted about the new Sunday parking restrictions which came into effect last weekend, and that they neither want nor need them.

From 30th November, streets in parking zone G became reserved for resident permit holders only between 2-4pm and between 6.30-8pm on Sundays, as was already the case on Saturdays.

The new restrictions came after four weekends of parking misery for those living closest to Westfield, as shoppers clogged the streets, using the normally quiet side roads as a free car park, particularly on Sundays.  

However, residents in Frithville Gardens, which is on the fringes of zone G, say they have lost their only day of free parking: “When it changed from free parking after 5pm to free parking after 8pm, they didn’t consult us. We can’t have visitors before 8pm now. The only day we had was Sunday. Now Christmas is going to be a nightmare. My daughter is coming for a week and it’s going to cost her £19.80 a day,” said one resident who declined to be named.

“We don’t need Sunday parking restrictions. Why should we suffer? We’re in the same zone but it could be divided,” she said, referring to some of the more badly affected streets in zone G which do want Sunday restrictions.

Another Frithville Gardens resident, who also declined to give her name, said: “My daughter lives in Kent. She comes on Sundays and it’s going to cost her £20 to park. Now there are only two days of the year when it’s free: Christmas Day and Easter Day.”

The new Sunday parking rules are temporary pending a full consultation. But residents of Macfarlane Road, which is one of the worst affected streets, say the current Sunday measures are useless and the ‘permit holders only’ windows were originally brought in to deal with football parking issues, not shoppers: “I’ve not come across one person who approves,” said the Chairman of the Macfarlane Road residents’ association. “It’s using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.”

Those living in the street say they want residents-only parking from 9am until 9pm, 10pm or even 11pm seven days a week, to coincide with Westfield’s opening hours and ultimately with cinema hours, although they still want to keep some pay-and-display bays to benefit local businesses.

“This is the biggest issue we’ve faced,” said Hammersmith and Fulham Council's Transport Planning Manager, Chris Bainbridge, about parking. “We always knew it would be problematic. We wanted to do a consultation in the spring when Westfield had settled down but there was no way residents were going to wait until then. Cabinet decided it was such a pressing case that some quick and immediate action had to be taken.”

Some residents have called for the use of visitors’ stickers which would allow guests to park during residents-only periods but Bainbridge said such a system would be too open to fraud: “We have a SMART card visitor scheme in Hammersmith which gives reduced visitor parking, not free. It might be something like that we come up with after the big consultation,” he said.

Cllr Nicholas Botterill, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, said parking inside Westfield was still free on Sundays but would not remain so: “We went down to the wire with Westfield over Sunday parking but I’m afraid we can’t hold them off for much longer. They’ll probably start charging in the new year.”

A consultation is due to begin shortly involving six or seven of the parking zones around Westfield. At a recent meeting on parking issues, Cllr Alex Chalk told residents: “The consultation is going to happen before Christmas and all options are on the table. I can’t promise the effects of the consultation will be immediate, but respond in numbers and things will happen.”

Yasmine Estaphanos

4 December 2008