RE:parking on Melbourne grove....is it free??

[seleb2]

Hi all,im going to be moving to Melbourne grove(tu),quite near ashbourne grove.My question is the parking free around this area???I think i may have a quicker response on here than from my agent> Thanks!:))

[Jeremy]

Yes, it's free - as is all of East Dulwich.

However, you may often find it difficult to get a space, especially if you are at the end near the station.

[James Barber]

Yes it is free. A public consultation that will include the part of Melbourne Grove between Grove Vale and East Dulwich Grove will take place late Autumn about whether residents want Controlled Parking.

A parking stress survey has taken place and I'm trying to obtain the results.

[first mate]

It seems like we have this sort of consultation every year and every year the residents say no. This leads me to conclude that it is the council that desperately want controlled parking....why, I wonder?

A major source of parking congestion round Melbourne way is the car wash at the end of Chesterfield, where parking attendants seem to turn a blind eye to the cars backed up waiting to get washed, parked on yellow lines and clogging the street.

A further source of parking congestion is the builders vans and skips, courtesy of myriad loft conversions in the area. Sort these issues and parking would improve immeasurably.

I mean the above only partly tongue in cheek.

[bloonoo]

first mate Wrote:

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>

>

>

> A further source of parking congestion is the

> builders vans and skips, courtesy of myriad loft

> conversions in the area. Sort these issues and

> parking would improve immeasurably.

>

> I mean the above only partly tongue in cheek.

Argh the skips drive me insane, we have 3 down our (short) road currently, none of them with covers on so the rubbish gets blown all across the street. lovely!

[Dulwich chef]

James Barber Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Yes it is free. A public consultation that will

> include the part of Melbourne Grove between Grove

> Vale and East Dulwich Grove will take place late

> Autumn about whether residents want Controlled

> Parking.

>

> A parking stress survey has taken place and I'm

> trying to obtain the results.

Hi James, any chance that we might be able to get the public consultation to include discussions about parking on East Dulwich Grove? Parking for residents is a nightmare along here due to people using it for the hospital...

Thanks

[James Barber]

Hi first mate,

What an appalling memory you have. The council last formally consulted about this some time before 2006.

Last year many residents raised this on the doorstep so local Councillors ran a questionaire about this and small majority from meory wanted controlled parking.

Really don't see the car wash at the Lordship Lane end of Chesterfield causing Parkin stress on Melbourne Grove?

The parking stress survey that was gently undertaken will make it clear if commuter parking is the issue or not.

[first mate]

James,

You may have a point about my memory, however, it does not take a genius to work out that those residents and others unable to park in Chesterfield because parking is already gobbled up by the numerous car wash clients and abundant skips and builders vehicles, will go to the next street- Melbourne Grove.

[poppy]

We used to live on the corner of Ashbourne Grove and Melbourne Grove - unfortunately I have to say car parking was a bit of a nightmare. Obviously at weekends lots of shoppers park along Ashbourne Grove but we tended to find that weekdays were worse with commuters parking for the station. It wasn't helped by more and more people turning their front gardens into driveways along Ashbourne Grove so spaces along the road became quite limited (not that I blamed them). I regularly had to park a long way down Melbourne Grove which was a pain with a bootful of Sainsbury's shopping!

But we found the advantages of being so near the station as well as the main drag of LL far outweighed the annoying parking so don't let it put you off too much! Good luck with your move!

[mastershake]

I'd agree the problem is mainly commuters (so incredibly annoying!) and people parking for the hospital - it's not really the LL shops as wekend parking is never, ever a problem.

But it is a real problem in the week. I've regularly had to park over 10 minutes' walk from my house, and with shopping that really is a pain.

[first mate]

Perhaps commuters are a problem but I would plead with you not to go the way of controlled parking. We've always managed without it, and once tied up into paying those fees there is no way back. Aside from the car wash and builder vehicles another bugbear of mine is two car families.

[bels123]

.

[Bobby P]

Agreed with first mate re. parking. I live exactly where Poppy used to live, i.e. corner of Ashbourne and Melbourne, and have really not had a parking problem in 7 years. Yes, like Poppy, I sometimes have to park a bit further up the road (occasionally with shopping!), but personally I don't see that as an issue. Living close to the station has other benefits, and frankly one would expect some extra cars by virtue of doing so - like much in life, it's a trade-off.

But controlled parking zones are a nightmare! Avoid at all costs. Free parking is one of Dulwich's many attractions as a "liveable" area, making it an oasis of civilisation in the over-regulated, bureaucratic, stressful quagmire a lot of London's streets have become. Basically, yay for ED!

[ingridcjones]

Bels123 has got it spot on. I live on Derwent Grove and all our neighbours want controlled parking. With so many houses being converted in flats the number of cars just keeps rising. You are more likely to find a unicorn walking down LL than a parking space during the day.

It would also be better for the shops on Grove Vale - with customers actually being able to park somewhere. I don't see a downside (except for a few commuters)

[Senor Chevalier]

There is no controlled parking zone on Melbourne Grove (thank goodness) but parking there is not entirely without cost as I discovered last week when I got home and saw someone had scraped along the side of my car and dented the wheel arch.

Fairly predictable I suppose given that the last bit of Melbourne Grove corner with East Dulwich Grove (used as a cut through to Grove Vale) is incredibly congested almost all of the time.

If only the Council had implemented a one way scheme rather than mucking about with random pavement widening on Grove Vale...

[jimmyay]

the trouble is, get controlled parking in place, free to begin with, and 5 years down the line residents permits are ?200 a year. has happened all over london.

[Bobby P]

Agreed, jimmyjay. A 1 hour restriction soon also causes endless hassles to casual visitors (aged parents etc.) as well as the usual "has the bay been suspended while I'm away / have I gone out to check that I haven't been clamped/towed even though I'm a resident" problems. Wrong ticketing/car removal happened endlessly where I last lived under a parking zone, even if on appeal they had to refund (after months of argument). Anyone who seriously wants one of these clearly hasn't lived under one before. It doesn't help with parking spaces for residents either, as they always restrict (by bay markings) the actual amount of road available to park on when they bring one in.

[first mate]

JimmyJay,

I agree too. That is why the council keep pushing for it- it's a lovely revenue source and who knows how far they'll hike the prices once they get the controlled parking in. I would fight this every inch of the way and, interestingly, I know of no resident that supports it.

[Penguin68]

Councils do not introduce controlled parking to benefit residents, in the main, but as a valuable revenue source (fees and fines). Curb space is an asset they can sell/ rent. As soon as controlled parking is introduced into a neighbourhood, even if initially in a limited fashion, it races out, as visiting cars are pushed further and further away from the initial site of controlled parking, therebye creating a further argument for its extension. Introduce it now on Melbourne Grove and all the roads leading off Lordship Lane - probably through to the police station, will be controlled parking within 5 years.

Even where, initially, resident parking is 'free' it is often rationed and soon is charged for - 'just an administrative cost you understand' .... And visitor parking permits will certainly come at a cost. Cars will be fined for overlapping bays or encroaching white lines - it will be a parking control company bonanza as wardens are targeted on revenue generation.

Within a lustrum the quality of life across ED will be diminished as car owning residents find themselves in a constant car war of attrition with 'the management'. And the value of my house will soar as I have off street parking for several cars!

[peterstorm1985]

bels123 Wrote:

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> As a Melbourne Grove resident I find it hard to

> understand why people are so against controlled

> parking.

> I'm not an expert on controlled parking, but I

> don't see why true residents should have to pay

> for, surely the enthusiastic parking wardens would

> generate enough income to cover administration

> costs?

I'll eat my hat (and any other accessories you care to suggest) if Southwark introduced controlled parking without a charge to the residents.

[garnwba]

As a resident of Melbourne Grove i'd warn anyone thinking of moving to the street that parking is a total and utter nightmare. Don't buy a house unless you are willing to spend 20 minutes everyday driving round to try and find a space... oh and be happy that your car wing mirrors will be smashed off by drivers trying to squeese their way up the road.

Bring on the controlled parking and i for one will have no issue in paying for a permit if it results in me being able to park within eye sight of my own house.

[IMJS]

There seems to be a trend. People who live around Grove Vale want controlled parking.... Others (I assume people who use it as a car park) don't. I would happily pay to be able to park my car in the vague vicinity of my house.

[sophiesofa]

No to permits! It will spread and I have lived in a permitted area before and visitor permits were a nightmare. I don't understand people saying they sometimes have to walk for 10 mins there's always a space on blackwater street which is definitely less than 10 mins and I'm sure other roads have space too. Why do you need to be in sight of your car?

[bmu]

Oh come on, garnwba, that's just nonsense. Even at its worst (and I don't much care for it at its worst), I've NEVER had to look for 20 minutes to find a space. Nor had to park more than about 200 yards away. Even during the day, on a weekday, which is the busiest time. And usually we can get to within a few cars of home. It's not great, and can be frustrating, but it's really not as bad as all that. But I'd be happy with residents' parking. Keep the vehicle dumpers away, and the occasional people who park for two weeks while they go on holiday.

[Loz]

Permits generally equal less parking space (as the bays are more stringently marked), so you'll probably have less chance of finding a parking spot.