Forum Topic

Parking during water main replacement

Thames Water will be replacing the water pipes in our road this week and we've received a letter saying that we won't be able to have vehicle access to and from our drive whilst work is underway.Because we have off-road parking, we don't have a resident's parking permit.Have any of you faced similar issues ?  Is there any dispensation given to allow us to park in residents' parking bays during the works, or will I have to (a) pay for a six-month resident's permit or (b) pay and display for the duration £14.40 per day ?Thanks in advance for info you can share....

Andrew Broadbent ● 5996d6 Comments

I was wrong, it was only £11....I managed to get back onto our drive last night.  Just as well as I expect the snow will delay completion of the works.:-(

Andrew Broadbent ● 5988d

....not if you have to go to work, anyway.Since the work starts today, I've decided to park on the road (even though our driveways will not be blocked but must remain out of use, according to LBHF).When I started to put money into the pay and display machine at 7:30 this morning I discovered that it starts charging me from 7:30, even though "controlled hours" don't start until 9am.  Maximum stay is 8 hours, so I have to be home by 3:30 :-(  I've decided to take a half-day hol so I paid until 1:30.It wasn't until I reached the tube station that I realised that (I think) I paid £12 for 6 hours - that's £2 per hour, not the £1.80 it says on the machine.  And neither did it seem to pro-rate the time - adding 50p didn't purchase any more time, I had to add it in chunks of £1. *Sigh*So, a word of warning.  If your off-road parking is affected by works like this, don't expect to be able to pay and display for a few days if you have to work 9-5.  You can't.  Iguess you have to get a £60 resident's permit.

Andrew Broadbent ● 5992d

"This is as a result of us being within the area which is controlled by temporary traffic lights."In my view that's not an adequate excuse.  Presumably you'll have alternate single line traffic past your house.  To have uncontrolled access to that area from another road might be dangerous, but one car every few hours to/from your house is no more dangerous than normal access from a house to a busy main road.  Sounds like some H&S jobsworth is behind this.

Richard Jennings ● 5995d

I'm meeting the contractor and someone from LBHF Highways dept. at the scene tomorrow.At this stage I'm being told we'll be denied access from 29 Jan - 9 Feb :-(  This is as a result of us being within the area which is controlled by temporary traffic lights.What surprises me is that there appears to be no plan or process in place to accommodate cases like this.  I'm sure we can't be the first people that this has happened to....

Andrew Broadbent ● 5995d

When they did our road the workmen were really helpful and let us park (we don't have off street parking facility).  I am sure you will find that there won't be too much disruption and they will let you have access.  There may be a few hours when they really do have a hole in the road in front of your drive but if you chat to the guys, am sure you can come to a compromise.

Caroline MacMillan ● 5995d

Good question!  You probably should phone H&F parking and ask whether they are suspending the CPZ charges in your street for the duration of the works, which would seem fair.  In my experience of this sort of work, although the contractors say you won't have access, I think that's just to cover themselves, as most of the time you'll probably be able to get in and out, and local negotiation can help to minimise problems.  I've known a road to be officially "closed", buses diverted etc., but actually you could drive, bumpily and carefully, all along it for most of the "closure".

Richard Jennings ● 5996d