At Ordinary Council on 22nd October 2014 a petition was presented which called for more parking to protect Shenfield.

The petition noted ‘we the residents of Shenfield and Hutton firmly believe additional parking arrangements are imperative to deal with the inevitable extra traffic once Crossrail arrives. We do not want to see increased parking in residential side streets and oppose the decking of both Friars Avenue and Hunter Avenue car parks and call for these to become “shoppers only” car parks. We urge the Lab/Lib coalition now running Brentwood Borough Council to use the £1.5m, set aside by the previous conservative administration to tackle the parking situation. Any proposal must protect, and be for the good of residents’.

The Council provided 48 spaces in Friars Avenue and 62 spaces in Hunter Avenue, with 2 disabled bays in each car park. It was expected that through the construction phase of the project only 20 spaces would be available in Friars Avenue during the week, with none at weekends, with no loss in Hunter Avenue.

A report was commissioned by the Council in October 2013, which looked at Shenfield Station parking and access (Appendix A of the agenda). The study identified a number of potential schemes, and provided a summary of the benefits to rail users, and the deliverability of the projects (Table 10.1, p52).

The Crossrail project in Shenfield was brought forward, and work would commence in February 2015. This would see up to 28 spaces taken over for the project in Friars Avenue car park during the week. The construction phase was expected to run through to March 2017, therefore there were potential issues with parking during this period.

In the long term, Crossrail predicted a 28% increase in demand by 2026, therefore there was a need to consider alternative parking arrangements to meet this demand, but those would have to be discussed in conjunction with developers, and identified in the Local Development Plan.

It was evident that there were no short term solutions to build additional car parks, as there were no suitable sites available.  Alternative options would have needed to be considered to mitigate any potential disruption over this period, and dialog would be continued with South Essex Parking Partnership and representative of Crossrail throughout the construction period.

Termination of Meeting

During the preceding item, in accordance with Rule 28 of Part 4.1. – Council Procedure Rules, the business of the meeting not having concluded by two hours after its start, Members voted to agree to continue with the meeting for a further 30 minutes.

A motion was MOVED by Cllr Kendall and SECONDED by Cllr Sapwell to receive the recommendations in the report.

After a show of hands it was RESOLVED that:

1.    The Head of Street Scene liaise with Ward Members and with South Essex Parking Partnership and representatives of Crossrail throughout the construction phase to reduce disruption to businesses and local residents.

2.    Delegated authority be given to the Head of Street Scene, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, the Chair of the Business and Town Centres Committee, and local Ward Members, to make decisions relating to urgent and unforeseen traffic management issues during the construction phase.

3.    The options outlined in Table 10.1 of the JMP report, guide Officers to carry out further detailed work on long term options for Shenfield in consultation with other agencies.

4.    It be agreed to make Hunters Avenue and Friars Avenue car parks into free shopper’s car parks, with a 3 hour maximum stay, with no return within 4 hours on and from 1 April 2015 until completion of the construction.

5.    It would be agreed that on and from 1 April 2015, a maximum of 30 spaces be made available for season ticket holders in the Council’s Shenfield car parks.  Through the construction phase would be provided in the NCP car park with none in the Council’s car parks as outlined in 3.12.