Category: Transport

  • Select Committee supports move of proposed vent shaft from Queen’s Park station site

    Palace_of_Westminster,_London_-_Feb_2007

    Further to our post last month, QPARA appears before parliamentary Select Committee, the HS2 Select Committee has now reported and has supported the move of the ventshaft and auto-transformer to the Canterbury Works site in South Kilburn. The HS2 Bill is now going through the normal stages in the House of Commons, after which it will move to the House of Lords.

    Cllr Margaret McClennan, Brent lead member for Housing and Development, has agreed to attend the QPARA monthly meeting on 12 May to talk about the housing scheme for the Queen’s Park station site.

     

  • QPARA appears before parliamentary Select Committee

    Palace_of_Westminster,_London_-_Feb_2007

    QPARA representatives, Robin Sharp and Kevin Barrett, appeared before the  HS2 Select Committee on 26 January. We were ‘petitioners’ against HS2’s plan to build a large ventilation shaft and transformer unit on the Keniston Press and car park site by Queen’s Park station. Although HS2’s most recent plan is to switch this to the Canterbury Works site on Canterbury Road, this is not finally ‘signed up’ and has proved unpopular with community interests there. So QPARA decided to present its case against the vent being at the station site. Much impetus has come from Brent Council which has pressed strongly for this change of location so that it can go ahead with a major housing and retail development scheme. Brent’s scheme would also take in land now occupied by Cullen House, the Falcon pub and part of the gyratory road. This scheme was the subject of local exhibitions, consultations and planning approval three years ago. It now looks more likely to go ahead, but depends on final decisions following the Select Committee’s hearing.

  • QPARA helps see off immediate rise in visitor parking charges

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    Before Christmas the Brent Council Cabinet approved plans to increase visitor parking charges in resident parking zones (CPZs) by 200%. The intention was to make the necessary traffic orders in the New Year.

    QPARA got hold of the Cabinet paper and asked for discussions with Cllr Ellie Southwood, who is the lead for the Environment as well as a Queen’s Park ward councilor. These took place at QPARA’s December meeting and were based on a full presentation of the Council’s case.

    The main justification was to catch up with what other Boroughs were charging and to deal with an alleged abuse of some residents selling permits to commuters.

    QPARA members pointed out that an increase of 200% across the board was not a reasonable response to an alleged but unproven problem in two or three areas. They were concerned about a whole range of issues making it hard for residents with annual permits to park near their own houses. These included permits issued to schools for teachers and to businesses, builders’ skips, unused car club bays, as well as parking congestion and abuses around parents collecting children from the five Salusbury Road schools.

    Without waiting for the statutory consultation on the traffic orders QPARA sent in its objections to Cllr Southwood on 24 January calling for a wider review of parking in the borough before considering such huge increases in visitor parking.

    Shortly after this Cllr Southwood wrote to Labour councillors withdrawing the proposals, saying “I have come to the view that the visitor parking charges proposal needs to be set in the context of a wider review of our parking offer.”

    Responding Robin Sharp, QPARA Transport and Streetscape Group spokesperson, said “We welcome this rethink. Visitor parking represents only a small part of the problem in this area and should not be singled out for a disproportionate increase.”