ePetition - Resident’s parking in South Hollingdean

Roads south of and including Hollingbury Crescent, Hollingbury Place, and The Crossway in Hollingdean have consistently voted in favour of a resident’s parking scheme.

• In 2022, this area of Hollingdean voted 72.4% in favour of a scheme
• In 2023, the same area voted 50.8% in favour of a scheme

While lower, the 2023 survey results still held a majority in favour despite concerns having been raised around resident confusion from a lack of communication on the process; an opposition campaign from north Hollingdean residents who do not face the same levels of displacement, as well as those living outside of the area; flyers presenting misinformation around costs and previous voting history; and a scheme that had been delivered with no residential input, with concerns raised around the high amount of paid visitor parking bays that would not resolve the issue of increased traffic to and from the area.

South Hollingdean is surrounded on three sides by Controlled Parking Zones in Fiveways and Roundhill (Zone F and Zone J), Ditchling Road (Zone 10), Hollingbury Road (Zone G), Coombe Road (Zone U), Lewes Road and Elm Grove (Zone V). In addition, entry and exit points to the ward are limited to the Fiveways junction and Upper Hollingdean Road on the southern border, with roads in the north and east of the ward protected from through traffic by the railway line and golf course.

Displacement of vehicles to southern Hollingdean roads has continued to worsen since the area was first consulted in 2017, leaving us facing dangerous and illegal parking on a daily basis.

Residents in Hollingdean regularly experience:

• Illegal parking on double yellow lines, both unattended and attended vehicles, particularly around Hollingdean Terrace, Hollingbury Place and Roedale Road
• Dangerous parking on grass verges in Horton Road and Davey Drive, which has led to blocked bus routes
• Nose-to-nose parking, which has contributed to vehicle damage as well as blocking access to resident driveways
• Frequent traffic with both short and long-term parking of large diesel vehicles, including commercial vans and trucks, as well as residential camper vans and motorhomes
• Inability to park in the late afternoon or from early evening across the whole of southern Hollingdean, leading to increased anxiety and reduced freedoms for residents, as well as increased traffic from circling for spaces
• Increased fumes from excessive vehicle movements from commuters, town visitors, and residents living outside the area, with frequent idling of engines for excessive periods when parking and leaving the area

In addition to the displacement of vehicles, our residential area borders air quality tests carried out in Hollingdean Road which found levels of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) to be three times the recommended guideline limit set out by the World Health Organisation, and that air pollution has worsened in our area between 2022 and 2023. The current level of NO2 in Hollingdean Road is also less than 5µg/m3 under the UK’s legal limit of 40µg/m3, and in fact, exceeded this limit as recently as 2019 (41.1µg/m3).

A resident’s parking scheme is desperately needed to ensure resident’s safety when crossing busy roads, enable residents the freedom to park more easily in their area, and improve air pollution levels by reducing through traffic and engine idling from increased traffic utilising one of the only free parking areas left in Brighton.

We propose a resident parking scheme in South Hollingdean be implemented with residents already having voted in the majority for such a scheme. We suggest the reconsideration of a light-touch scheme, reduced parking bays for paid visitor parking by 50%, as well as diagonal parking bays in closes off Davey Drive to maximise spaces for residents who do not have a driveway.

This ePetition ran from 13/10/2023 to 05/12/2023 and has now finished.

304 people signed this ePetition.