Yesterday afternoon Kirsten, Glenn and I sat down with the estates & facilities manager of the Royal Berks Hospital and senior officers from Reading Borough Council's transport team to discuss parking matters.
I set this meeting up in attempt to get a better dialogue going between RBC and the RBH about how to reduce pressure on parking in local roads around the Hospital.
The University of Reading is also a key player in this discussion and as I pointed out in December itsplan to redevelop it's Mansfield Hall campus will reduce available parking for Hospital staff.
The meeting was very friendly and productive. We are sympathetic as councillors to the plight of the Hospital.
However we are reaching saturation point in a number of local roads from Alexandra Road to Allcroft Road where parking is unrestricted or only partly restricted with commuters leaving their cars for long periods in many streets, students and University staff parking around the campus and worshippers at the Mosque seeking parking too.
This makes life very difficult for residents who wish to park and for pedestrians and cyclists. Road safety around Addington Road and Craven Road is a real concern and there have been a number of accidents.
As ward councillors our primary responsibility are to ensure safe roads for residents and as far as possible to ensure their interests are represented.
At the meeting we heard that Hospital is currently investigating a number of options including expanding the multi-storey car park and leasing spaces in other Town Centre car parks. I was pleased to hear the Hospital management are in talks with the Carbon Trust and have signed up to a very challenging target to dramatically reduce emissions.
RBH management have also recently cut down the number of people who are eligible to receive parking permits.Obviously, the trouble with that is that staff are then more likely to park in local roads.
It sounds as though planning applications could be on the horizon (subject to RBH having the cash to embark on this kind of project).
We made a plea for the Hospital to consult residents and councillors as early as possible - an approach the University never seems to manage, despite regular feedback from us over the years.
However, as Kirsten pointed out there is no "one-size fits all" solution to the problem of parking. We have limited road space in Redlands, and as officers are always keen to point out to us "no-one has a right to a parking space".
A park and ride scheme was tried by the RBH but it was dropped as it was not a success. RBC working with the RBH and UoR need to make it more attractive for people to use alternative modes of transport. But more needs to be done to make this a reality.
This is about behaviour change - and attitudes are hard to shift.
But there are things that can be done including creating better cycle lanes, better bus services and other ideas such as car-sharing and car clubs - something we have campaigned for.
Interestingly, the officer from the RBH said that car-sharing during the recent bad weather period increased markedly with many members of staff picking up colleagues on their way into work.
RBC Officersreported to us in the meeting that bus passenger numbers also went up during this period. I hope this will encourage more people to consider sharing their car or taking a bus, but I can't help but think that people will go back to driving in.
One very positive thing to come out of the meeting is that RBC officers are now going to liaise with RBH and UoR officers to bring them into a network of South Reading businesses/stakeholders to look at ways of working together to tackle parking collectively - after all they all share the same road space.
This isn't rocket science but it's amazing how many times as a councillor you find officers in public bodies working in silos.
I think everyone involved thought the meeting was a very good idea. The aim was not to give the Hospital are hard time - quite the reverse - but to get a better understanding of the issues the Hospital is facing, so we can work towards finding solutions.
The officer from the RBH also raised a number of problems and issues the Hospital is facing including Taxis parking on yellow lines (which is making it difficult for ambulances to get in and out).
At the end of the meeting we also managed to touch on the thorny problem of cigarette litter - something I have raised with the Hospital a number of times. There is way too much litter around Redlands Road linked to people smoking. Noises from the RBH were more positive on dealing with this issue.
I also raised once again the possibility of installing a small recycling centre on the Hospital grounds for staff, visitors and local residents.
Next week Glenn and I are taking to the streets with RBC officers to look at ways of reducing parking problems for residents who live around Lydford Road.
Watch this space for updates!
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