Last month the Richmond Council granted Tesco’s request for a larger loading bay on St Margarets Road. Over the past few days details have emerged regarding the specifics of the implementation of the new loading bay. The actual implementation appears to be far more lenient towards Tesco than previously suggested in the Council’s Cabinet Report.
It seems the bay will not only be longer, but substantially wider than it currently is. Also, the rules for the bay will also be more far more forgiving for Tesco and harder for residents than they are currently.
The Facts
The bay will be extended from its current 11 metres to an overall length of 15.4 metres and the width will go from 2 meters to 2.7 meters.
The sign will be changed to say “Goods vehicles loading only” with the following hours of operation.
| 8.00am - 9.30am | Monday to Saturdays | Loading bay to be kept clear of all vehicles. |
| 9.30am - 4.00pm | Mondays to Saturdays | Loading / unloading permitted by goods vehicles only, maximum stay 1 hour, no return within 1 hour. |
| 4.00 - 6.30pm | Mondays to Saturdays | Loading bay to be kept clear of all vehicles. |
| 6.30pm - 8.00am | Overnight & All Day Sundays | No restrictions apply, so the bay is available for parking by any vehicle. |
From the end of the extended bay to the corner of Broadway Avenue, and for a short distance into Broadway Avenue, to the first road hump, there will be double yellow lines.
The changes should be ready from 31st October.
The Physical Problem
The key issues are:
- The wider bay legally allows Tesco to block more of the road. The bay will be 0.7 meters wider than it is currently. As the lane is only 3.6 meters wide, this will allow only 0.9 meters (2.9 feet) for other vehicles to pass.
- The loading bay’s rules essentially prevent any residents from using the loading bay. Except after 6.30pm and on Sundays.
- The addition of the double yellow lines around the corner also remove valuable waiting space for residents.
- Putting a wider bay so close to the Broadway Avenue corner makes the corner more dangerous. There will be a fairly significant blind spot for A316 bound traffic.
Richmond Council’s Position
Despite the publicly strong stance of the Council requiring Tesco to be a ‘good neighbour’, the actions of the Council seem to be far more supportive of Tesco over the concerns of the community. In fact, they suggest they could do nothing but allow the change and all they can do now is how that Tesco can abide by the law.
“The Cabinet Member has allowed this alteration to go ahead and while I am sure he appreciates the feeling among many in the area the fact that Tesco’s can legitimately trade from this location gave him little option other than to approve the extension to the loading bay.”
Andrew Darvill, Assistant Director (Traffic & Transport), Richmond Council
Conclusion
Only time will tell if Tesco can become a better neighbor and stop creating traffic and pedestrian problems; however, it seems that with the new loading bay plans, Tesco has secured a major win from the Council. Not only is the bay larger, but they get a lot more flexibility over who can use the bay, how long they can use it and near immunity from getting more tickets.
On the other hand, residents lose the use of the bay, lose valuable waiting space, gain a potentially dangerous blind turn and a virtual guarantee of ongoing traffic congestion on St Margarets Road.
How do you feel? Vote in our poll. See the Results.
NOTES
Regarding the Width
“The loading bay will be widened to 2.7 metres. I am told it is currently more like 2 metres wide. There is nothing explicit in the Report submitted to Cabinet Member nor in the actual Cabinet Member decision regarding the width of the bay. However, statutory regulations stipulate a minimum width of 2.7 metres for a loading bay. Inasmuch as its hours of operation and extended length are all in recognition of the needs of Tesco to load, and that an agreement as to the hours of loading has been reached between Tesco and the Council, it would be perverse for officers not to re-mark the loading box such that it would fail to comply with the regulations. I did not understand that, as part of the agreement, Tesco would use vehicles narrower than 2 metres, so, apart from the regulations, ordinary road safety considerations dictate that the vehicle should be able to be contained with the marked box, thus leaving the carriageway markings visible to other motorists / road users whilst a lorry is waiting.”
Simon Merren, Senior Engineer. Transport Planning, LB Richmond upon Thames, email on Friday, October 21, 2005 4:46 PM
Regarding the Council Position
“In essence Tesco’s reiterated their desire to work in a cooperative manner making deliveries at during reasonable hours and where loading/unloading is difficult to try and ensure there is only vehicle at a time visiting a store.
With regard to St Margarets they feel that the amendments to the loading bay should now enable the deliveries to be made without affecting the bus stop and again were confident that their own delivery vehicles could be programmed to arrive such that there is only one at a time. As you indicated in your email the Cabinet Member has allowed this alteration to go ahead and while I am sure he appreciates the feeling among many in the area the fact that Tesco’s can legitimately trade from this location gave him little option other than to approve the extension to the loading bay. It must of course be noted that the loading bay is not only for Tesco’s but to help the other shops nearby. Also by having the extended bay there should be less conflict with the buses using the adjacent Bus Stop and reduce possible congestion if the bus had to stop in another location.
While parking on a bus stop or other restricted location can attract a Penalty Charge Notice (parking ticket) it should be noted that it is not a criminal offence and consequently a driver cannot be prosecuted. Indeed I can confirm that having spoken to the Parking Enforcement Group a Parking Attendant regularly patrols areas such as St Margaret’s and Kew and if appropriate issues a PCN to any vehicle found to be in contravention of the parking regulations.
The Council continues to meet with representatives of Tesco’s and is always grateful for information or suggestions from the public that can be used to improve arrangements.
I trust this provides you with information that you require although I appreciate that the reply from Tesco may not indicate the sort of changes that you are seeking. Should you see any vehicle inappropriately parked then please do not hesitate to contact the Parking Hotline on 020 8744 0462 (available from 07:00 until midnight).”
Andrew Darvill, Assistant Director (Traffic & Transport), Richmond Council
Comments
Many thanks for this extra information. Why, when there is a loading bay before the bridge, just thirty metres away where lorries can pull in from the carriageway, do the council feel that is is important to accommodate Tesco in the way that they have at this point. At 7am on Thursday morning I saw one Tesco lorry in the loading bay and another was parked on the very narrow pavement opposite (not in front of) Oddbins.
And, the decision to put double yellow lines round the corner of Broadway Avenue, with the loss of at least one, probaly two parking bays is deplorable.
All is being done, it seems, to accommodate Tesco's existing distribution system and not to force them to adapt to situations. The only way now to prevent this change is for councillors to call in the decision, now.
Trevor Whittall on 2005-10-25 08:40:46 +0000I fully agree with Trevors comments, who at the council made this decision and on what grounds? Our council has bent over backwards to help Tesco and has ignored the people of St.Margarets. Trevor comments about how to prevent the changes taking place by calling in the decision - how do you do this Trevor?
simon chapman on 2005-10-25 17:54:45 +0000Unfortunately, after posting this notice I was told that the date for our councillors to try to call this decision in for review has passed. I can only suggest anyone who wants to see the decision reversed write to councillor Mark Kreling. His email address is cllr.mkreling@richmond.gov.uk, with copies to Cllrs dporter, ahambidge and slamb.
Trevor Whittall on 2005-10-26 11:40:38 +0000Re. the comments from Andrew Darvill, specifically: "In essence Tesco's reiterated their desire to work in a cooperative manner making deliveries at during reasonable hours and where loading/unloading is difficult to try and ensure there is only vehicle at a time visiting a store."
I walk past Tesco every day on my way to work and see plenty of deliveries outside the permitted delivery times. There are also numerous occasions when more than one vehicle is delivering. I can't see how this can be termed co-operative - it's blatantly ignoring the rules.
We now have Superdrug making HGV deliveries as well, which I suspect increased the pressure on the council to increase the size of the bay. I wonder, though, if there's any plan in place between Tesco and Superdrug to alternate their deliveries?
Nick on 2005-10-26 13:57:42 +0000Have you tried writing up a petition and getting all residents of ST Margarets to sign it?
Xandria on 2005-11-04 03:12:15 +0000I agree with you Xandria. I also think we should organise a demonstration outside Tescos. BEN KHOSA
Ben Khosa on 2005-11-04 18:34:02 +0000Why cannot Tescos be persuaded to use smaller lorries for their local high street outlets instead of these inappropriate articulated monsters. Mind you if we shopped elsewhere ie support our smaller local shops then Tesco would not have to replace their stock quite so often.
Mary on 2005-11-04 21:23:37 +0000Ben let me know and I'll be there with my loud mouth outside
Xandria on 2005-11-05 04:01:57 +0000Be very careful. According to the above article you can use the loading bay to park for one hour on a Saturday after 4pm. I have recently been hit with a penalty charge (£50 payment within 14 days, after that £100). I was waiting in my car (not parked, just waiting) whilst my friend jumped out to use the cashpoint. We were there no longer than 2 minutes. This happened on a Saturday afternoon at 4.02pm. The number given to pay the notice is an automated service, only giving me the option to pay, not to dispute the charge. I will be taking it further. There are cameras there and they have photographic evidence. This is sickening. Soon you won't be able to breath without paying a penalty.
Kerry on 2008-02-01 18:29:18 +0000