Current priorities and concerns

One of my major concerns is the worsening problem of parking around central Walton.

This has come about gradually but predictably. First, there was the introduction of Decriminalised Parking Enforcement in January 2006, which transferred responsibility for the enforcement of parking restrictions such as yellow lines from Surrey Police (who had admitted that they did not have the resources to undertake such enforcement any longer) to Surrey County Council Highways, who have delegated the task to Elmbridge Borough Council, so that there is now a recognised enforcement process. Secondly, there was the introduction of car parking charges in Elmbridge Borough Council's public car parks in central Walton in late 2006 and then at The Heart car park in 2007.

It was clear that many people who drive to Walton and used to park on yellow lines in the High Street or in the free car parks would not wish to pay for the privilege of parking safely and would prefer to park for free in the residential streets just outside the main shopping area. We have asked for a review of parking restrictions, which could, and probably will, lead to some form of Controlled Parking Zone for central Walton. However, work on this has stopped as a result of shortages of staff at Surrey County Council Highways Department. As a result of pressure that I and many other Councillors have put on Elmbridge Borough Council, it has agreed to pay SCC Highways £30,000 to employ consultants to get on with the work of drawing up plans for controlling parking in and around Walton Town Centre. This work should lead to some new scheme being introduced towards the end of 2009.

It is not as if there were not enough car parking spaces available. On Wednesday October 1st, at about mid-day I walked round the four floors of The Heart Car Park and estimate that there were about 400 empty spaces out of the 760 available capacity.

A similar situation is developing near Walton Station as a result of the Conservative administration's decision to increase car parking charges to £5 a day with effect from this April. At the beginning of October, around mid-day, I also counted 121 empty spaces in the two big Council owned car parks either side of the station. The result is nearby roads clogged with cars parked all day making traffic congestion worse and having hardly any benefit to the Council's income.

I would very much like to see reduced parking charges to encourage people to shop and work here, rather than exorbitant fees which I feel in time will lead to the closure of shops and other businesses in the town centre, with their trade taking place at out of town shopping areas.

Another major concern is the continuing tendency, on many occasions, for developers to endeavour to cram in as many units of housing as they feel they can get away with when they put in their proposals for new housing developments.

Thirdly, I am concerned about the number of street lights which are not in working order and have not been repaired by EDF despite many complaints. I am aware that this is a problem that affects many areas and not just Walton.