Lib Dems accuse Luton council of putting Bury Park 'at risk' with trial red route

As the council’s Labour administration moves ahead with its trial ‘No stopping’ parking restrictions, the Liberal Democrats said in a statement: “A red route isn’t the answer to congestion problems.”

Liberal Democrat Barnfield councillor David Franks said: “A major part of the problem is the council’s failure to properly enforce the yellow line restrictions which are already there.

“If they simply got on with the job and enforced these effectively, the problem would almost disappear. With viability already suffering because of a lack of parking places, a red route isn’t the answer to congestion problems.

“This can only make life even more difficult for the shop traders and for people visiting other facilities in the area.”

A reference from LBC’s overview and scrutiny board suggested dropping the idea and opting to rigorously apply current parking restrictions, having been moved by councillor Franks at its meeting last week.

The board was concerned that “year-by-year there are fewer shops in Bury Park, as more are converted into food takeaways and offices”. It backed “all reasonable efforts to increase the availability of parking spaces” in the area, including an approach to Sainsbury’s requesting an extension of the free use of its car park.

It “recommended that the council doesn’t proceed with establishing a red route in Bury Park, and instead focuses on much more robust enforcement of current regulations and parking restrictions, while preventing shops extending onto the pavement”.

Presenting the scrutiny reference to the executive, Liberal Democrat group leader and Barnfield councillor Amjid Ali added: “The recommendations to the committee are further investment is required within the area, with more parking facilities and enforcement needs to be strengthened.

“The board was quite clear that the council doesn’t implement a red route scheme in Bury Park.”

Council leader and Labour Biscot councillor Tahmina Saleem told the executive last night (Monday): “Bury Park is a thriving hub and a diverse shopping area.

“There are vacant units occasionally, but they don’t stay empty for long because of the need in the area,” she said. “There’s a wide and varied offer to visitors, such as shopping, leisure, food and other demand-led commercial activities.

“The council has received many complaints about traffic congestion and pedestrian safety in Bury Park over the years. We’ve sourced an extra 120 parking places in Hazelbury Crescent.

“We’ll continue to talk to Sainsbury’s and perhaps an option to extend the time beyond 90 minutes free. There’s plenty of parking at the supermarket.

“As for not proceeding with a red route, we considered the cost of this. There are four traffic enforcement officers covering the Bury Park area. To ensure the greater coverage you’re seeking would require a further six officers.

“That equates to an extra £220,000 a year to fund the enforcement you’re requesting. The red route will do the same thing more efficiently because it would be automated and capture everything for a cost of £20,000.

“This allows us to enforce current parking restrictions without putting a significant cost on to taxpayers, while enforcement officers can concentrate on illegal parking in the surrounding residential streets.

“The red route is an efficient and cost effective way to tackle the two key issues of safety and congestion in that area. This will be monitored after six months, a year and 18 months to ensure there are no adverse consequences.”

A three-minute grace period is being allowed as a concession for drivers to pick up and drop off without receiving a fine, but this will be closely monitored.