Council consulting on proposals for permit parking schemes in Palmers Green and Arnos Grove

Enfield Council has launched a preliminary consultation on proposals to introduce a permit parking scheme in Palmers Green to the east of Green Lanes, extending as far as New River Crescent. The council is also consulting about extending both the extent and the operational hours of the existing Arnos Grove controlled parking zone (CPZ).

The shading shows the approximate extent of the proposed Palmers Green East CPZ

The "Palmers Green East" and Arnos Grove proposals are among four CPZ consultations that were announced earlier this month on the Let's Talk Enfield website. The other two relate to the Alma Estate and Electric Quarter, both in Ponders End.

A new approach to controlled parking zones

The new proposals are the first to be announced since the council adopted a revised policy with regard to CPZs ("Future Approach to Controlled Parking Zones") in early 2024. The new policy allows the council to be proactive in proposing new CPZs rather than only implementing them in response to demand from residents.

The report recommending the new policy notes that the previous procedures in force since 2015 have "proved cumbersome, often taking over 12-18 months from start to finish". It adds that "this approach to introducing new CPZs gave only limited weight to the Council’s Network Management Duty and, in particular, our duty as the local Highway and Traffic Authority to actively manage kerb space in the interests of all".

The circumstances where the council will take a more proactive approach are:

1. Where there is an outstanding commitment to take forward a CPZ.
2. Where a CPZ would help achieve a mode shift in favour of active travel and/or public transport, either on its own or as part of a wider package of measures
3. Where a CPZ would facilitate the delivery of new housing or employment.
4. Where a CPZ would help address an existing parking problem, where on-street parking stress exceeds 85%. This is assessed by calculating the demand for kerbside space as a percentage of supply.

The new approach will align parking policy with several recent policy statements adopted at either borough or London-wide level: the London Plan (2021), Mayor of London's Transport Strategy (2018), Enfield Transport Plan (2019), Climate Action Plan (2020) and Air Quality Action Plan (2022), all of which in one respect or another shift priorities away from private car use in favour of modes of transport which are more environmentally sustainable and reduce the health damaging effects of motorised transport.

The health damaging effects (and the financial savings from reducing them) are summarised as follows:

Achieving a modal shift towards active travel will also reduce the health damaging effects of motorised transport e.g. road traffic injuries, air pollution, community segregation and noise. Such is the effect of physical activity upon health that it has been calculated that a modal shift to levels of active transport in the Netherlands would save the NHS £17 billion per year. This would be achieved through savings in treating Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, some cancers, musculo-skeletal disease and dementia. Improving the walking and cycle infrastructure would also be likely to positively impact upon health inequalities as income or wealth would become a less significant factor in a person’s ability to travel within the borough e.g. access to employment, healthcare, social networks etc.

With specific reference to the environment and equity (a sizeable minority of households have no car) the document says:

Implementing the CPZ proposals will help achieve a number of benefits:

1. Will directly encourage private vehicle owners to move to vehicles with smaller engine sizes, emitting lower levels of carbon.
2. It could reduce the number of private vehicles owned per household and associated vehicle use, encouraging low or zero carbon modes instead.
3. Controlled Parking Zones can also ensure a fairer use of the public realm.

The document sums up the benefits as follows:

Overall, the proposals will encourage sustainable and active travel, helping us to manage environmental problems related to congestion and local air quality, while also reducing our impact on climate change and improve health, safety and accessibility for all in our communities. This supports Public Health’s efforts to embed Health in all Policies across the Council.

The following paragraphs are designed to give readers a quick and somewhat simplified overview of the proposals for Palmers Green East and Arnos Grove -  the full details can be found on Let's Talk Enfield.

Palmers Green East CPZ

As noted above, the appendix to the new policy document listing future CPZ consultations refers to a "Windsor and Osborne" scheme. This has now become "Palmers Green East", but the reference to those two parallel streets off Green Lanes was no accident, since requests for a CPZ from residents of both go back to at least 2016. A quick visit to either street shows why: much of the time every inch of kerbspace is occupied by parked cars and residents often cannot find a space in their own road. The previous lack of any meaningful progress towards a CPZ has been the source of discontent by residents at more than one ward forum meeting.

An obvious problem with a zone comprising just Windsor and Osborne Roads is that outsiders prevented from parking their cars in those streets would simply use other nearby streets instead. As matters currently stand, residents of the next street along, Park Avenue, often have difficulty parking. Which explains why in 2024 the council is proposing a wider zone including all streets west of the New River up to and including Hazelwood Lane and New River Crescent.

The proposed Palmers Green East controlled parking zone (CPZ) would introduce resident-only parking between 8am and 6.30pm seven days a week on all streets within an area bounded by Hedge Lane, New River Crescent, Hazelwood Lane and Green Lanes (though an existing pay-and-display parking scheme would be retained at the westernmost ends of Hazelwood Lane, Park Avenue, Windsor Road and Osborne Road). Permits issued to anyone living on the streets affected could be used to park anywhere in the zone.

Residents would be able to purchase annual parking permits at costs ranging from £77 to £495 a year per vehicle depending on engine size and type and number of cars. A book of ten visitor vouchers would cost £21 (each voucher valid for a morning or an afternoon). Permits and

Only residents of the streets affected and of flats above shops in the nearby part of Green Lanes, plus visitors providing routine care to family members based in the zone, would be eligible to buy permits and vouchers. Requests for business bays would "be considered" and cost £920 a year. Blue badge holders and nurses visiting patients would not need to pay.

Arnos Grove CPZ

Map showing approximate area included in new Arnos Grove CPZ proposals. Purple shading denotes streets in both the current and the revised scheme. Blue denotes streets in the proposed revised zone that are not in the current CPZ. (This map has no official status - see the official consultation for authoritative maps)

The existing Arnos Grove CPZ is in force only between 11am and noon on weekdays and covers streets both east and west of the tube station on either side of Bowes Road. It is designed to stop people from further afield using streets within walking distance of the tube station as parking places for their car while they travel into London for the day.

The intention of the new proposals is to reserve on-street parking within the zone for residents and their visitors between 8am and 7.30pm seven days a week - the cost of permits as for the Palmers Green scheme. An important trigger for the scheme is housing construction on the former car parks at the tube station. This has been designed from the outset to be a car-lite development and will incorporate only a small number of parking spaces. Residents of the new flats will not be able to buy parking permits for the CPZ, and the same will apply to residents of future new housing developments nearby. Without a CPZ the availability of free parking on nearby streets would undermine the car-lite principle and make it difficult for their residents to park near home.

For people using local shops in Bowes Road there will be some pay-and-display parking.

The proposals also extend the CPZ to take in a few streets in New Southgate that are currently not included. But the biggest suggested extension of the scheme is on the far side of Arnos Park: the whole of Morton Way, plus the Minchenden Estate all the way up to Southgate Green (the Minchenden Estate comprises Arnos Grove - the street -  and the network of roads that branch off it on either side).

However, the consultation document describes extending the scheme to the Minchenden Estate is a "supplementary element":

The consultation seeks to establish what interest exists amongst residents of the extension area marked 'NE' for zonal parking on their streets. This element is deemed supplementary. The closest spaces are within a 10 minute walk of Arnos Grove Station and future housing may introduce more domestic overspill parking in years to come. The high number of crossovers in this estate would result in excessive numbers of single car spaces, each needing its own sign, under the maximum capacity approach. Placing bays only where spaces accommodate at least 2 cars is favoured

How to respond

The online consultations for Palmers Green East and Arnos Grove are open until 13th September. Only one response per address will be accepted. Anyone wishing to respond without using the online form or to ask questions should phone the project team during office hours on 020 8132 0977.