Survey and Design (December 2019 – July 2020)
The London Brough of Brent (LBBr) required us to review existing parking arrangements at around 200 housing sites across the borough. LBBr had received complaints about obstructive parking at these sites, which was creating accessibility issues for pedestrians and emergency services. It was also preventing residents and legitimate visitors from parking with the estate. Following these complaints, LBBr wished to explore the option of introducing regulated parking within these housing sites.
LBBr piloted five housing sites before surveying and redesigning parking within the remaining sites across the borough. A team of parking consultants visited each of these five sites and identified the following:
- Position, dimension and classification of all existing parking places and parking restrictions.
- Position and specification of all existing upright signs, including parking signs attached to flank walls of buildings
- Existing surface condition for all parking areas.
Following the survey phase, we produced three AutoCAD plans for each housing site visited. The scheme included:
- depicting existing parking conditions within the site
- a suitable proposals plan for LBBr to use as part of a public consultation exercise
- a detailed proposals plan that could be given to the council and contractors outlining finer elements of the proposal, for example, items for site clearance etc.
We supported our review with a bill of quantity indicating lining and signing requirements. It included a log of any highway defects identified that may impact on the implementation of carriageway markings.
We received positive recognition from the council with these deliverables and they gave the go-ahead to proceed with the remainder of the housing sites. We surveyed and designed the remaining sites in accordance with the same methodology. We delivered the plan to LBBr in July 2020, as agreed at the project’s inception and in accordance with the project programme.
Informal Consultation
The next phase of the project was to informally consult the residents of the five piloted sites to gather their views. We determined support levels and identified whether they needed any amendments. Through Project Centre’s experienced in-house ‘Engagement Team’ we were able to develop a robust consultation strategy that aligned with LBBr requirements and that necessitated the following tasks.
- Drafted and designed a questionnaire leaflet for public consultation
- Drafted, designed and built a webpage and online survey
- Hosted online public consultations meetings (due to COVID-19 restrictions) and responded to enquiries from residents
This approach enabled all residents to have the opportunity to participate in the informal consultation, which ran for three weeks. Following the closure of the consultation window, we prepared a summary report for LBBr. The report outlines the key findings from the consultation feedback, which identified support from three of the five housing estates.
LBBr expressed keenness to proceed with five housing estates. We selected two additional housing estates for informal consultation, which followed the same structure as the previous consultation. Feedback indicated support from residents at one of the housing estates but not from residents at the other. LBBr decided to move forward and progress parking controls on the four housing estates, from which residents supported the proposals.
Traffic Management Order (TMO) (May 2021 – June 2021)
Following informal consultation, Project Centre’s dedicated team of traffic order makers provided TMO support via the following approach and tasks.
- Discussed with Brent’s Traffic Order Team to identify the preferred approach to TMO’s (either text-based or map-based). LBBR requested to map-base the TMO
- Drafted a new traffic order made under the appropriate section of the Act and made use of our existing TMO
- Prepared schedules for the TMO in a map format.
- Prepared the supporting documentation required for the purposes of advertising the proposals
The TMO consultation ran for three weeks in accordance with statutory requirements, during which time we didn’t receive any objections.
Implementation
Project Centre has informed LBBr that the carriageway condition in some areas on the estates requires improvements to facilitate road marking. At the time of producing this case study LBBr has programmed remedial works through the Council’s highways contractor. We helped with:
- Prepare a final set of plans for the purposes of implementation by Brent Council’s Highways Contractor. Mark the road surface to indicate the locations of parking bays, yellow lines, signs and posts.
- Carry out quality assurance checks to assess accuracy of road markings, position of signs etc.
- Produce a list of work required to complete the project, such as missing signs and work that requires correction and pass to the Council contractor.
Next Steps
April 2021: Discussions commence with LBBr for Project Centre’s support in a borough-wide rollout of the implementation of parking controls across all housing estates in the borough.
Conclusion
The project progressed well and mirrored project progress as set out in the project programme. During January 2020 we recognised quickly that the pandemic may have an impact. We added additional resources to the existing survey team, with the aim of increasing productivity and ensuring that as many housing estates could be surveyed before being required to cease work. These resources ensured that we could complete the first survey process in May 2020.
Upon analysing feedback obtained from the informal consultation, it was identified that no feedback had been received from residents of a particular housing estate. It was decided to repeat the consultation to ensure residents had every opportunity to express their views and ask questions, make comments etc. The repeat consultation did elicit a response from residents, albeit a very low one.
By all means, we delivered the proposal over the duration of the project programme, including at key milestones and events. After reviewing the project deliverables so far, LBBr have requested that Project Centre provide support in a borough-wide rollout of the implementation of parking controls across all housing estates in the borough.
