Thatcham Avenue – Parking
Created by SamHi all,
I have been living on Thatcham Ave for 2.5 years now and would agree with Barry’s comments regarding where do visitors and friends park. The parking issue really needs addressing and a compromise must be found.
I find it very sad that neighbours have already fallen out over this issue. The end of the day we all have to live here. You can’t put yellow lines all the way down a road and give no alternative parking. This is not a solution and in fact has caused more bad feelings because residents and visitors have to then park in the smaller roads off Thatcham Ave and fight over the few spaces available.
We only have one parking space in front of our garage that is behind our house. We are unable to park our car in the garage because like so many other people we use it for storage. We were told by the developer on a site visit that the loft in our townhouse was not built for storage of heavy items! I would be keen to hear if anyone else was told this?
We did raise our concern about parking with the sales office and were told that we could park on Thatcham Ave’ and there was no need to be concerned. Had we known about the double yellow lines before we purchased the property we would have bought somewhere else.
Kingsway is conveniently situated to the motorway and people that commute were bound to be attracted to living here. They are even talking about changing Junction 12 due to the increased volumes of traffic. We have to be realistic and practical, not everyone can cycle to work or has a direct route using public transport. Most of the houses are 3-4 bed family homes, but no one appears to have considered the parking required when building.
There is no easy solution, however if you drive around other estates in the area and even in town there are roads a lot narrower than Thatcham Ave and yet they seem to be allowed to park on one side of the road and have no issues. Am I missing something here?
There are idiots and inconsiderate people who do cause obstructions on the pavement and park on both sides of the road making it difficult for everyone and these people should be clamped, but for the rest of us who just want to get on with life and not have to worry about where am I going to park, is that really the answer?
I also don’t understand why people who have a driveway that can accommodate 2 or more cars insist on still parking on the road? This really frustrates me. I do not park outside my house because I’m lazy I literally don’t have anywhere else to park, so please can people be less quick to judge and stop suggesting that people use their garage and drive as this is not helpful.
Would parking permits at least help solve the visitor parking issue?
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May 7th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Hi Sam,
I agree completely. And the fact that developers misinformed potential buyers about the ultimate plans for parking restrictions throughout the Village is deplorable (‘though I suspect nobody is very suprised)!
Read TonyG’s post about the clamping and my reply for some more info’ on the subject… The mere fact that the two of you posted on such closely related issues on the same day speaks volumes about the level of frustration this is causing for local residents!
To date the QUVL and CPS (clamping company) have conspired to make the situation untenable and confusing for all and it’s sad that much of the time the increase in clamping activity has been triggered by complaints from residents! Whilst I do sympathise with those affected by inconsiderate car owners, it’s unfortunate that the guilty never seem to suffer, but their actions bear consequences for others who are not causing any real problems
Eventually of course, this issue will have to be addressed by The Council. Meanwhile Barry and the Residents Association will keep trying to find a solution which is agreeable to the QUVL, CPS and local residents.
May 7th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
I think at the moment the parking on Thatcham avenue is a bigger problem than it will be if/when the other access road is open. A lot of traffic is using it because there is no other way out of Kingsway.
Even so it would be good if they could just double line one side of the road, or add marked bays. But I guess they can’t do that until the road is surfaced/adopted. Is there any news of when that is likely to be?
May 7th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
Kingsway is badly designed, the current Government policies on planning have caused this mess.
How can a commuter village have such poor parking? Then again, we all knew what we were buying! Personally I think a parking permit should be enforced on Thatcham Avenue. You have a drive and a garage, if you choose to use it for something that it was not intended then that’s your decision.
Thatcham Avenue should have been twice the width of what it currently is, it’s an absolute joke! When I looked at the plans it looked alot wider and there were more access routes, unfortunately this isn’t the case.
If you only have parking for 1 car then you really shouldn’t have bought the second car with out prior arrangements to store that additional car.
May 15th, 2010 at 9:51 am
Hi Sam,
completely agree. Being Self employed I occasionally get customers visiting me to discuss projects etc and without them being able to park I lose serious amounts of business. Plus the sight of cars with clamps everywhere is not exactly fitting with the nice image I’m trying to portray of my business and the surrounding area….
I’m happy to go to a permit system if required (the signs do state permits can be aquired) but there is no process and no such permit in place…
Anyhow, fingers crossed that Baz and the guys on the comittee managed to get something out of QUVL yesterday. I’m not confident though as the project managers there seem to change their mind every couple of months….it’s no wonder our roads and pavements haven’t been done yet…..in 3 years……
May 17th, 2010 at 8:18 am
Tony,
It was discussed in length about the parking issues and to cut a long story short, Andy from QUVL (who appeared to be very approachable) explained that basically, QUVL will do what we think is best with regards to the parking issues. And there were a quite a number of people who indicated that the only way to prevent the parking problems was to re-introduce the clamping system. Andy agreed that the painting of yellow lines should be more ‘professional’ and hopefully more permenant. This is the shortened version of events, I’m sure that Barry will be posting the full minutes in the next few days.
The problem with the permit system is that it does not remove the unsafe parking. The whole reason for no parking on the yellow lines, is that it is dangerous to park there. (Albeit a clamped car is still parked, but at least it is a strong deterrant).
All in all, the meeting seemed quite productive, it was just a shame that the Police rep’ could not be present.
The wine was quite tasty as well!
May 17th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
The minutes will take a couple of days; I’m sure you appreciate they are not a minor undertaking
For me the best suggestion was by the lady in the front row who suggested getting a “safety bod” to assess it and determine where lines need to be and take it from there.
I will also be bringing this up at a joint QUVL/Councils meeting because the lines/clamping only deals with the symptoms and not the casue itself – IE: There is not enough parking and it is a major problem. As well as that, as was mentioned at the last meeting, these experiences need to be passed to those dealing with Hunts Grove so they don’t have the same problems.
May 17th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Hi,
What do people think about having communal parking areas? There are a few grassy areas which could be transformed to suit the needs of visitors.
May 17th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
Yes parking is a problem and even more frustrating when you have a garage that you can’t even get your car in (well you can, but you have to climb out the boot if you don’t want to spend the night there!!)
The double yellow lines have helped reduce the amount of crazy parking in some areas of Kingsway. They have also helped reduce speeding, where the legal parking areas have created a chicane effect. This MUST be taken into consideration when/if QUVL redesign the legal parking areas. Some yellow lines were put down on just one side of V.Gardens which created lots of speeding. After lots of complaints, QUVL then put sections of yellow lines on alternate sides of the road to create the chicane…speeding problems were then reduced.
May 18th, 2010 at 8:06 am
Take a look at this post for details of the discussion on this subject at the recent RA Meeting.
May 18th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
We were advised NOT to use the loft-space for storage, as like you, we were advised that it wouldn’t take the weight of anything beyond empty cases or “Christmas Decorations” anyone who has a garage like ourselves (most are duplicate of each other) cannot even fit their cars in as they are far too narrow! The only thing that may fit is a mini or similar sized car beyond what most use them for, household storage!
We equally have a driveway for one car (our own) but no visitors parking, anyone wanting to visit has to park on alternitive roads with whatever limited space can be found without parking on double yellow lines or blocking the roads use safely.
The parking on Thatcham Avenue was a much discussed topic at the recent Residents Meeting… QUVL representative indicated that the road (if cleared of parking) would then be clear for those who speed. I suggested the need for further Traffic Light Crossings at different sections of the roads where the lights can be altered in order to stop such speeding. Clearly, it all comes down to cost before consideration of those who reside within the development.
We were equally discussing the fact of one road into the development, and the same road out for what would be three thousand homes/residents to combat when accidents happen and the roads closed again. We are then forced to remain inside or outside for long periods regardless of anyone’s needs.
May 21st, 2010 at 7:39 pm
Just came down Thatcham Avenue tonight; what a pleasure, no parked cars to have to weave in and out of. Where have all the cars gone?
Perhaps they have decided to use their allocated parking spaces or cluttered garages. Who knows? It could make a lot of car owners on this estate very happy to see clear roads in front of them.
The downside to this scenario is my friends the clampers will be put out of business if they cannot find any of these illegally parked cars that cause so much mayhem.
tog