Dear petitioners,

I’d like to thank Mr Hayes for bringing this petition together and all those who’ve taken the time to sign it and express their concerns.

I do however have to disagree with the premise and content of the petition.

Firstly, there is no trial of shared-use parking bays in Southfield or Chiswick, this is not a trial programme. It is not a new policy; it was first introduced back in 2012 when 82 spaces were converted to shared use in Drayton Green (Zone NN).

Since then Ealing council has added 10 more zones, and across all 11 CPZs with shared bays there are almost 1,000 (965) such spaces in operation.

Ealing operates some 52,000 bays in total, the latest proposals and the plan going forward will see an adjustment in bays so where there is little or no use of the spaces, we will offer scope for the bays to be utilised. The total number of shared-use bays will form around 10% of the total bays we operate, although this will be significantly lower in some areas. Hence, we are only looking at a small selection of bays, not whole CPZs.

It will not be a ‘free-for-all’ across the CPZs since existing permit holders can park in those shared bays and furthermore, share bays cannot be booked in advance.

We will also be looking to encourage the take up of electric vehicles by installing the infrastructure like charging points. The evidence to date shows that they will help make better use of our road space.

The plan going forward is to map usage in our CPZs, identify and implement shared bays and review them once they have bedded in. The evidence to date shows that they work, meaning better take up of under-used bays and little disruption to regular CPZ usage, but we will keep them under review.

The overall ‘Transport Strategy’ approved in June, which underpins CPZ charges (the strategy does mention shared bays at all – nothing to do with it), is a plan for a modal shift. The strategy is designed to encourage Ealing’s motorists to make more sustainable travel decisions by incentivising lower polluting vehicles and car sharing. The express aim of the changes is threefold:

• Improve air quality – by discouraging the use of old diesel vehicles.
• Reduce the environmental impact of motoring – by supporting drivers who use lower emission vehicles.
• Improve road safety and traffic – to lower the number of vehicles used as more people share vehicles, join car club schemes or use sustainable modes of transport such a tube, bus, bike, or walking, instead of car journeys.

Poor air quality is a serious public health issue, as it causes early deaths for up to 10,000 people annually in London (of which an estimated 387 will occur in Ealing). 

Diesel vehicles are responsible for 40% of the pollution which is why they are charged at a higher rate. It is time for action, but we aren’t doing this alone. Fifteen other London boroughs have emission based charging and our pricing levels remain fair and are not out of step with comparable boroughs.

The Transport Strategy is designed to help clean up our air, incentivise residents to make environmentally sound choices and make healthier choices like cycling or walking. Part of that strategy is the introduction of emissions based charging for parking permits and this follows the practice in other boroughs.  Our prediction is that we will receive a 13% reduction in parking permits as residents move to walking, cycling and public transport instead of using the car, and our hope is this percentage reduction increases over the coming years.

The Transport Strategy is fair, comprehensive, and has our stated aims at its heart.

For these reasons we cannot accept your petition, I will not withdraw the transport strategy and we will continue with the roll out of our shared use bays, CPZ charge changes and press on to clean up our air and save lives.

Best wishes,

Cllr Mik Sabiers

Cabinet member for Environment & Highways.