Many people would like to see the Spelthorne (Ashford, Staines, Sunbury & Shepperton) Stations brought into Zone 6 for Oyster Card fare ticketing (Sunbury Matters – Sept 20) and who can blame them? A reduction in the price of the hyper-inflated cost of tickets for commuters can only be a good thing – or can it??
Currently the Spelthorne Stations border Feltham and it is not unknown for many of Spelthorne’s commuters to drive to Feltham, park up, walk to Feltham Station and reap the benefit of the cheaper fares. Why wouldn’t they?
One only has to drive the short distance to Feltham to see what havoc is being caused on a daily basis by cars parking anywhere within walking distance of Feltham Station (some 20 – 30 minutes in some cases). All day long, the streets are totally blocked with commuters’ parked cars, causing no end of difficulty to local residents who are unable to park their own cars near to their homes during the day. Have a look some time, you can see the evidence in front of your very own eyes.
So what would then happen if the Spelthorne Sta-tions were incorporated into Zone 6? Would not the same thing happen with those other commuters who would now border Spelthorne Stations, in places such as Egham, Weybridge, Chertsey, etc? Would they not simply jump into their cars and head for somewhere like Sunbury or Shepperton, park up and then they too would reap the benefit of the cheaper fares? Very tempting, I must say!
So where would these commuters park their cars in Sunbury & Shepperton, which is within easy walk-ing distance of the Stations? Well, there is a large unsupervised car park at Nuffield Gym, in The Ave-nue, Sunbury. What about the commuter who is running late & their train is due in a few minutes? Surely they wouldn’t park there, would they? (I suspect Nuffield might have a view about this?) How about the unsupervised car parks at Sunbury Health Centre or Shepperton Medical Practice? Also tempting, as they also are only minutes away from the Stations. Let us also not forget the ‘Jewel in the Crown’ – The Avenue, in Sunbury itself. A long open road, with no parking restrictions. Would commuters park on both sides of this road? Would some commuters exercise their choice to park with two wheels on the grass verge, tearing up the grass verge on wet winter days. Anyone in bygone days, who used to witness the London Irish Mini Rugby Festival off The Avenue, will remember the abso-lute havoc that was caused by cars parking the en-tire length of The Avenue and the side roads. Imag-ine that every day!
Whilst our commuters get up at the crack of dawn, travel to London in cramped sardine cans and return home after dark, there are many others who live and move around in Spelthorne during the day. What about the older generation who need their car to get their groceries but are unable to drop them at home because they can’t get parked? What about the mums who have no choice but to take their children to and from school but can’t stop anywhere near the school or drop their children at home?
Finally the Council could introduce parking re-strictions. Plenty of yellow lines around the place and Residents’ Parking Permits. Does anyone know of a Council that issues Residents’ Permits for free? Unlikely, so those people who remain in Spelthorne during the day would have to bear the burden, in order to allow commuters to have their cheaper fares. Is that equitable & fair? Once the genie is out of the bottle, there will be no going back!
Be careful what you wish for!