Forum Topic

Excellent news on Grove Park Traffic Exemptions

Our local councillors deserve a very big pat on the back for their efforts in persuading Hounslow Council to extend the exemptions for residents throughout the area. It was ridiculous that this wasn't done from the outset and caused a huge amount of misery for people who happened to live on the wrong road.The scheme will not be without its downside in terms of deliveries and hassle for visitors but these are now probably outweighed by the benefit of quieter streets in the area. I appreciate that the traffic no longer going through Grove Park may now be going past someone else's home but in most cases this is making busy roads busier rather than fundamentally transforming an area.

Diane Brown ● 1509d14 Comments

At first sight seems a sensible improvement ... still not the free for all there was before, so through traffic is still eliminated, but improving the lot of (some) local residents who don't now have to take a long detour to get back home when they've needed to use their car.

Andrew Jones ● 1509d

Question just to clarify - there is no change however to the restriction of driving through SOTG from Kew Bridge to Grove Park Road (or vice versa)? Are the supposed cameras even operational, does anyone know?

Jim Brown ● 1509d

The consensus is that there is no enforcement of the SotG restriction. There is always a slight risk that they could send mobile ANPR cameras to the location.The wider exemption for Grove Park and SotG residents is good news and will reduce unnecessary pollution and congestion while making people's lives easier. It does also suggest that it was much simpler technically to make these changes than was originally being claimed.It is notable that the change is being made immediately for Strand on the Green residents. This may indicate that TfL are expecting Kew Bridge to take a lot of the strain from tomorrow when the A4 works begin. Approaching Grove Park/SotG from the west may be very difficult so access from the A316 will be there best option. The restrictions are lifted for everyone but this will become a material consideration when they are back in force.

Francis Rowe ● 1509d

Quite difficult to enforce the SOTG restriction. When there was an access restriction in Devonshire Road you could conceive of a single camera being able to capture the offence, but until Hounslow start employing Drone enforcement, SOTG restriction will never achieve what was intended.

Andrew Jones ● 1509d

Hurrah. Some good news. Well done Gabriella Giles for representing locals, whether they be Tories, Labour, LibDem, (etc+), or just sensible people needing to get about.

Russell Pearson ● 1509d

Actually I think the credit goes to our new Councillor Amy Croft. As soon as she was elected she met the local residents associations and also  other local groups. She then took all the views she had heard to the new head of environment and they discussed what changes could/should be made. The result of these discussions can now be seen

Iris Hill ● 1509d

Gosh, so all we needed was a councillor living in Feltham!

Russell Pearson ● 1509d

Yup! New blood and enthusiasm

Iris Hill ● 1509d

What wonder next from Feltham’s finest - Harvard Hill reopens to locals, Staveley Road barricade removed, one CPZ for Grove Park, a decent chippy?

Russell Pearson ● 1508d

Credit where credit is due. She could have chosen the easy path of just becoming a mouthpiece for the administration. Instead she appears to be making the effort to speak up for her constituents. At worst you could argue it is not a great look that the longstanding requests of residents only appear to have been listened to when they got round to voting for someone from the ruling party.

Francis Rowe ● 1508d

Just to clarify: 1. Does this mean that we can now drive down Hartington Road to reach Sutton Court Road south of the A4 (as we could for all the previous years I've been living here)?2. Is this automatic, or does one have to fill in  an online form?

Colin Jordan ● 1508d

Today is the last day that restrictions apply until October 13 EXCEPT Friday 16 September. Anyone can drive up Hartington Road and Staveley Road during this time.Originally the council intended to waive restrictions until the 25 November but they now appear to have wound back on this so restrictions will apply again from 13 October during the week and will only be suspended on some Saturdays.If you live in SotG you are now entitled to exemption although you will need to apply for this and I don't know how long it will take. Other areas won't be eligible for exemptions until after 7 September (don't ask me why!). It would probably be a good idea to apply for exemption immediately to ensure it has been processed by the middle of October when enforcement begins again.I had to laugh when the council said they were seeking to tackle complexity and confusion with regard to these measures. Even they are now admitting the level of fines coming from these restrictions is too high but they are probably going to soar again through the Autumn through to Christmas.

Francis Rowe ● 1508d

Thank you, Francis. Sounds as though LBH are following their usual policy: 'Obfuscation=Revenue'.

Colin Jordan ● 1508d

Iris, re-elected councillors have been enthusiastically meeting with residents associations, local groups and businesses for years now. To Francis' point, shame Hounslow is incapable of listening unless being given the what for by one of their own. Meanwhile, in other news per Ranjit's latest account, Katherine Dunne refuses to engage with those on the Glebe Estate. Instead, she has chosen to endanger us by forcing us to weave around blind corners simply to get home.

David Lesniak ● 1508d