22 September - Abbey Wood is a car park
In 2023 Bexley Council proposed extending the hours of the Controlled Parking
Zone nearest to Abbey Wood Station, designated AW.
Everyone was against the idea including the
Thamesmead East Councillors. Since then things have changed somewhat.
Bexley Council has introduced two more ‘all day’ CPZs, one (AW1) extending well into
Belvedere, almost to its station and another at the top end of New Road
including Woolwich Road. (WH.) Residents have given both a mixed reception but in
terms of deterring commuter parking they have been a resounding success.
Additional deterrence was provided when the Free Parking spaces in Abbey Road,
which are not aligned with houses, were restricted to four hours in an act of
spite and vindictiveness for which Bexley Council is renowned. The displaced
commuters have gone elsewhere;
some to Alsike Road.
After
1 p.m. and all weekend there are no
restrictions on any road close to Abbey Wood station and commuters and leisure
seekers can take advantage of the free parking facilities on offer. The Council
car parks charge more than £15 so who can blame them?
The current parking restrictions were introduced in 2007 and longer hours were
deemed unacceptable in 2023 but Abbey Wood is now home to the 35th busiest
railway station in the country - out of 2,600 stations. Maybe it is about time
that the two Councils took note of that fact. Bexley has taken some action,
maybe not as much as it might have done but Greenwich Council has done nothing.
Parking regulations introduced in 2007 are totally unsuited to the current
situation and the same Thamesmead East Councillors who objected to change three
years ago are now sympathetic to a
ground swell of changed public opinion. Their protestations have been so far
rejected by Bexley Council which refers back to the 2023 consultation taken two
years before the AW1 and WH parking zones were introduced.
The most affected residents who are excluded from parking close to their homes
have started a petition.
Note: My corresondent on this issue is a Bexley resident, Overton Road, while the petition has an emphasis on Greenwich. There needs to be close cooperation between the two and perhaps the lady who complains to Peabody about the problems in and around Alsike Road.