There had been problems in Westwells Road caused by staff from the new MoD
site parking in the residential area.
Councillor Peter Davis gave an update on the
outcome of a meeting with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) held on 20
January 2011. Representatives from the
MoD were present at the meeting to answer questions from
residents.
The MoD representatives made the following
comments:
·
Staff were being encouraged to use the
car parks on site rather than parking on the highway.
- There
were adequate parking spaces for all staff on site.
- An
additional car park for 500 cars on another nearby MoD site had
recently been opened to try to alleviate the problem.
- By
October 2011 there would be full parking on site.
- A
pedestrian gate had been opened opposite the MoD building which was
open from 7.15am to 7pm.
- Visitors were advised to park at the Rudloe site.
- The
MoD had arranged for cones to be placed in Westwells Road where they were able to and this was
being enforced by ticketing. It was not
possible to put cones down the whole length of the road because
this would require traffic restrictions.
- Leaflets had been issued to staff asking them not to park in
Westwells Road.
- Officers from the MoD had met with the Corsham Liaison Panel and highways officers to try
to find a solution to this problem.
The Chairman stated that consultation would
have to take place if any form of traffic regulation orders were to
be implemented in this area. However,
this would have to be considered carefully as the problem could
simply be displaced to another area.
The following comments were made by those
present at the meeting:
·
Could the pedestrian gate be closed because this could make the
problem worse? MoD representatives
stated that it was important to encourage cycling and walking to
work so the gate needed to remain open.
- Some
members of the public felt that parking restrictions were
required.
- It was
confirmed that staff at the site had been made aware of the buses
that ran to and from the site every 15 minutes.
- The
police confirmed that it was not possible to place cones down the
whole length of Westwells Road because
they could only be used for temporary events and were not a long
term measure to prevent parking.
- Some
members of the public felt that the parking on both sides of the
road constituted a health and safety risk. The police stated that they had looked at the area
and that the road was still wide enough for emergency vehicles to
pass.
- It was
noted that 10 tickets had been issued to MoD staff parking in
Westwells Road.
- It was
suggested that parking should only be permitted on one side of the
road.
- One
resident stated that the Council had agreed to carry out a traffic
survey in Neston once the site was in use and asked when this would
be done. The Chairman agreed to provide
a written answer within two weeks.
- A
traffic order would take at least three months to put into place as
there was a statutory process that needed to be
followed.
The MoD and Wiltshire Council agreed to work
together to find a solution to the parking problems in the
Westwells Road area.