Council launches public consultation on parking in Lewisham

Alan: Henry I’m right am I not that my distant relative was involved in perhaps one of the most important pieces of town planning that Norwich has ever seen? 
Genealogist: Well he worked in the office of town planner. 
Alan: Changing what was Deering Square in to what is now Deering Lane... 
Genealogist: It certainly made getting in to the centre of town that bit more straightforward. 
Alan: And the rest! If it weren’t for Deering Lane you’d have to come in on the ring road! That an ancestor of mine had to wrestle with that awful decision: on the one hand, the square gave people to sit – a respite from the frenetic pace of life, in Norwich. And yet on the other, I mean direct access to Hobbes Road must have been like the promised land to civil engineers, cutting journey times from the east half of the city in half! He was caught between a rock and a hard place. It must have been ruddy hard…
- Alan Partridge - Mid Morning Matters

Lewisham Council has launched a public consultation about parking policy in the borough. It says:

This review aims to update our parking arrangements, which have been in place for 10 years, to meet the growth we expect for the future. Our population is always growing but our road space is not.

The review will consider whether the Council's approach to identifying areas to be covered by Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) is still appropriate. It will also consider how the Council's parking arrangements can encourage people to visit local businesses, provide fairer access for carers to help residents, and for residents' visitors more generally, and allow for practical arrangements such as deliveries.

The consultation closes on September 28th. Click here to complete the survey.

The review points out that the population of the borough has grown significantly and will continue to grow over the next decade:

Like everywhere else in London, Lewisham's population has increased significantly over the past 10 years. The Census 2011 shows that the number of households (116,100) in the borough has grown by around eight per cent since the last Census in 2001. The population (275,900) is projected to grow further by another 10 per cent before 2023.

However, as the population of London has become more dense, car use has declined and per capita car ownership in the city has fallen, so it would be good to see figures for total car ownership in the borough, rather than assume (as this survey does) that the population rise necessarily means there is greater pressure on parking than there was a decade ago.

With thanks to Michael on the South East London forum.