Bug bears with parking on Wembley Event days

The new Wembley Stadium was marketed as a 'public transport' destination with limited private car access.  This letter is reproduced with permission of the Wembley resident who has written to councillors and council officers about some of the current issues to do with Event Day parking in the local :

 

Dear All,

 

First of all I must state that I have no objections to Wembley Stadium increasing the number of events, having lived in the HA9 area for almost 40 years I have learned to adapt and deal with it and experience little disruption to daily life. 

 

It would seem that one of the biggest bug bears to Residents in the area is Parking, so I would ask the council to do a complete overhaul of the Parking Permits and Event Day permits being issued in all wards within the HA9 area, not only for event days, as many now living in what is supposed to be “Car Free” properties have gained permits in CPZ’s and Event Day Permits which renders the system useless.

 

Work with Transport for London, to ensure that reduction of service (206 & 92) and diversion of buses (83,182, etc) that use Empire Way and Wembley Hill Road/High Road is kept to a minimum and if they have to be diverted for a limited time that proper signage is erected along with Traffic Marshals to help people affected to be able to connect with the relevant bus stop, further along the route.

 

Exemptions on closed roads, for Supermarket Delivery, Parcel Deliveries, Medicines, Residents with clear mobility issues for access especially at weekends when people who are working have no other options but to have them when they are at home.

 

Make Parking Enforcement Officers aware of the regulations with regard to Event Day permits etc.

 

I recently queried with Parking Enforcement Officer why they had not ticketed 2 vehicles parked in the CPZ and was told “they have Event Day Permits” I informed him that this did not entitle them to park in a CPZ/Resident Bay and he told me that was not what he had been told and would therefore not issue a ticket.  I can also confirm that these vehicles belong to residents of the “Car Free” flats of Wembley Place.

 

Recently at the Taylor Swift concerts 3 vehicles parked in the CPZ on the street, all were Chauffeurs/Uber Drivers who sat in their vehicles, engine ticking over for over an hour waiting to collect their customers. We never saw anyone from Enforcement and not one was ticketed or told to move.

 

Event Day Permits Abuse of ….

I suggest Brent Council Parking Service looked at websites such as:-

Just Park, Park on my Drive, Your Parking Space,  Parkopedia.

 

As they are valid for 3 years for £15.00! not yearly you missed a valuable revenue stream there!

 

I know of several people who have moved and no longer live in the area, who have retained and renewed their permits, who on Event Days to park in the area when visiting relatives who live in the zone, or who have given their permits to people who would not normally entitled to one, to use over the next few years!

 

The issuing of Event Day Permits to the Residents who live outside the CPZ’s in Tokyngton, Wembley Park, Wembley Hill, and Wembley Central has allowed anyone with a Driveway some with spaces of up to 3 cars, the ability to exacerbate the problem to epic proportions as many now put the permit in their cars park them on the road and rent out their driveway.  Some even park extra vehicles on the actual dropped kerb and block the footpath on to their drive.  In Tokyngton this clearly demonstrates that blocking the road at the Arches/Harrow Road has no effect whatsoever, as most vehicles enter from St Michaels Avenue.  This renders the road closure a complete waste of time and does nothing to alleviate the congestion at the end of an event.

 

I suggest for clarification and entertainment someone from the relevant Parking department put in the dates of the upcoming concerts for Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift, see how many are on offer and how many have actually sold out!  The sheer volume of adverts, all outside the CPZs to discover how widespread this is, even Asda Wembley Park advertise on Just Park you can reserve a space for £24 for up to 11 hours.

 

Blocking vehicles from entering the Wembley Stadium area i.e at Ecclestone Place, Triangle/Wembley Hill Road whilst the Traffic Marshalls employed by Wembley are doing a fantastic job of reducing the issues for residents parking and accessing their homes, this has caused an even bigger problem which no one has addressed not Parking Enforcement or the Police, which is the……….

 

Designated Pick Up Points, or rigorous enforcement of…..

 

Allowing Chauffeurs, Black Taxi’s and Ubers waiting to collect their customers from parking on both sides of the street on double yellow lines between Ecclestone Place and the Triangle where the road is blocked, along Harrow Road and Wembley High Road.  Some Ubers and Black Taxi’s were witnessed “Touting”  for business.

 

This was the case on all 3 dates of previous Taylor Swift Concerts.  The 18 bus could not pick up at the bus stop, Ambulances were stuck in gridlock and nobody was going anywhere as 2 cars could barely pass on the road.  Sainsbury’s have their delivery at 10.30 pm every night and park in the Bus Lane, which normally is not an issue but on Event day added to the problem. 

 

 

I am able to supply video should anyone from Parking Enforcement wish to view the mayhem this caused and was still causing problems up until 11.30pm over an hour and fifteen minutes after the concert finished.  I will state this is not typical concert behaviour as certain concerts do not attract the fans that use these options, i.e Green Day, and AC/DC.  I have no doubt that the up and coming Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift, and Boxing Events will have a same scenario unless serious thought is given as to how to prevent this.

 

I look forward to receiving a response on my comments.

 

Regards

Wembley Central Resident