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[shapps]

Many residents of Hawkshead Lane, N. Mymms, have contacted me about the parking problems caused by the ever growing Royal Veterinary College (RVC) along that road.

The problems have been exacerbated by both the general expansion of the College and a new plan which means that only lecturers and 5th year students and are now being allowed access to the RVC car park and although the College did introduce a bus service mapped around where its students live, take up has until recently been very poor.

I have been in contact with Ian Mehrtens who is Director Of Estates at the RVC and he says he's keen to get the problems resolved for local residents and anyone else using the now very crowded Hawkshead Lane. He has previously met with the police and with the Herts County Council about the issue.  Of course it's not illegal for anyone to park on the public highway where there are no restrictions, so there's been little progress made to date.

A petition is due to be gathered from residents along Hawkshead Lane and anyone else who uses the road and is concerned will also be able to sign. I will be presenting that petition to Ian Mehrtens when I meet him on 14th March 08, but before that time I'm trying to get things moving by involving Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council.

I'll keep this thread running and will keep you posted with updates.

Kind regards
Grant Shapps MP

[LocalExStudent]

it might be better to make it one way.  The bridge and road approaching it is fairly dangerous, particularly with lost delivery vans or those not familiar with the area.

[adamedwardsteather]

Could UNO divert the 610 bus to call in?  Might add a couple of minutes to the route, but would provide an hourly link Hafield - RVC - Potters Bar.   And if there were then more users, perhaps UNO might be able to make the Hatfield - Potter Bar section run more frequently?

Worth HCC checking this out?

Cheers
Adam

[Peter H]

North Mymms Parish Council have also been on to the RVC about this several times and as Grant says the answer from them is basically they have a new green travel policy (not plan they can show us) and refusing car parking is supposed to encourage the students to use the subsidised buses rather than their own cars. Students say the buses are still expensive and inflexible in timing and they need the cars.

My personal view is that the sight of numerous cars on the road and axle deep in the verge mud last week shows only that the RVC and the students between them are not making the green travell policy work and it would help if they both paid some regard to the local people who are now in the cross fire of a stand off not of their making.

I hear the RVC may now intend to extend their parking facilities but how much and when I dont know.

I think the petition ought to be aimed at the RVC and the student representatives and I believe if they both thought about it constructively for a while they could conjure up a plan which worked and which didnt turn a small country lane into an overflow carpark.

[shapps]

Just to confirm the steps that I'll now be taken:

1. A petition will be circulated during Feb to all local residents and anyone else who would like to add their name can email me.

2. Cllr Keith Pieri will be using some powers that already exist to stick notices on drivers who park on the grass curbs to let them know that action will be taken again them.

3. I will present the petition to the RVC and work with them to find a solution.

4. I've been working with Welwyn Hatfield Council to try and find a solution.

I will stay on the case until we have a solution to this problem as I believe that the current situation is totally unacceptable.

Grant.

[mickeyl]

Seems a shame that this part of the village is being spoilt by RVC students daytime car parking in Hawkshead Lane.

I understand that the Vetinary College is applying for planning permission for three car parks to try to alleviate this problem.

Mind you there is a long way to go between applying for planning permission, maybe getting it and then parkering [excuse the pun]out the funds to build the car parks.

A petition, organised by Grant Shapps, is being raised in the village and nearby roads to assist Grant in bringing pressure to bear on the RVC.

Anybody with views on this matter can contact Grant through his web-site, hopefully lending their support

[George]

A petition, organised by Grant Shapps, is being raised in the village and nearby roads to assist Grant in bringing pressure to bear on the RVC.

On the basis of the report on the other thread - RVC killing healthy dogs for their body parts - I suggest the petition should be to have the college shut down - not just to bring a bit of pressure regarding car parking.

[mickeyl]

The situation on the RVC applications for additional car parks is as follows. The applications for car parks in the RVC grounds on the north side of Hawkshead Lane have been passed at WHBC level, but the application for the large 75 space car park on the old RVC sports ground adjacent to residential homes on the south side of Hawkshead Lane, has been turned down presumably in the face of numerous residents' objections.

Unfortunately this means that the gross nuisance created by student parking in Hawkshead Lane will carry on.

I understand that MP Grant Shapps will continue to press for the RVC to provide more on site car-parking. There would seem to be ample land nearer the railway on which the RVC could provide a car park which would not in itself create another annoyance for the long-suffering residents of Hawkshead Lane

[mythoughts]

http://www.shapps.com/forum/index.php?topic=2804.0

Quote
Vets’ secret trade in dog body parts

A CLINIC is killing healthy dogs and secretly selling their body parts to Britain’s most prestigious veterinary college for research, an investigation has found.

The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) has a financial agreement with a vet’s practice which provides the organs from dogs on a regular basis.An undercover reporter posing as an owner found that staff at the Greyhound Clinic in Essex agreed to kill greyhounds for £30 each even though he told them the dogs had “nothing wrong with them”. 

I think this is disgusting if it's true.

Only recently did the RVC's "Animal Care Trust", a registered charity,  write to me with a leaflet asking if a) my dogs could donate blood b) outlining various ways I could financially support their work. I was seriously considering this but binned it after reading this article.

Frankly, until the RVC stop propping up the Greyhound Racing World's contempt for the poor animals they make a living out of, they can whistle for any type of support from me.

Full story:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3466712.ece

 

The above issue, as George points out, is far more serious.

[shapps]

Just as a quick update, my meeting with the RVC is this morning, where I will be presenting the petition and discussing the current parking problems.  I'll report back to this thread.

Grant.

[shapps]

All,

I had a useful meeting with the Principal of the RVC on Friday morning and just wanted to keep you posted on the outcome and next steps:

1. Parking Spaces
There is an outstanding planning application for 45 spaces all on the side of the road currently occupied by the RVC. I understand that this will be decided by the planning committee shortly (we're checking when) and that it is likely to be recommended for approval. These spaces are being 'reserved' for lecturers, but lecturer cars are apparently part of the number which currently park on Hawkshead Lane.  Assuming that permission is granted within the next couple of months, the RVC would complete these spaces in advance of the new academic year in September.

A separate application to build just over 70 parking spaces on the sports field side of the road has been withdrawn by the RVC following objections from residents.


2. Yellow Lines and parking restrictions on Hawkshead Lane
Welwyn Hatfield Council tell me that the police would not support any kind of parking restrictions on Hawkshead Lane because it would apparently be dangerous. I think this is nonsense and I've arranged a time to go and speak to the Chief Constable about how this could possibly be true. I understand why the Council cannot push ahead with this option without police support. I cannot understand why the police feel they need to have an active opinion about placing some parking restrictions on this stretch of road. I will report back.


3. Cycle/Walking Route between Potters Bar and Brookmans Park stations
Part of the problem would be resolved if there were convenient alternative forms of transport for students, who mostly live in N Mymms and Potters Bar areas, to get to college.  Improvements could be made to walking and cycling routes and the RVC are prepared to part fund some of this work. I will make further enquiries with the County Council on this front.


4. Bus services
The RVC has provided a bus service for which is charges the students 50p each way (£1 a day). They have mapped out the home of all their students and have created a bus route in accordance. Initially the take up was poor, but as the policy of not allowing students to park on the grounds of the RVC has become accepted with each new student year, more are using the bus service.  However, my discussions with students have revealed that sometimes the timings of the buses at the beginning and end of the day, do not fit in with their own academic study. I've raised this issue with the RVC who believe the students should be on campus from 9:30am to 5:30pm studying if not in formal lessons. I think they have somewhat unrealistic expectation of the way that students operate. And certainly the evidence is on my side at this point.


5. Verge Parking/Sticker Campaign
Even under existing by-laws it seems highly unlikely that it is okay to park on the grass verges along Hawkshead Lane and I understand that the power does exist to sticker offending cars. I will now try to progress this as an option to be used at the start of the new term.


6. Workshop training days
About once a week the RVC has a lot of external vets come to visit their premises for additional training. It seems that these are the days when the parking is at its worse. I've asked the RVC to count the number of cars parked along Hawkshead Lane on a regular day and during one of these workshop days and they've promised to report back to me.


7. College Masterplan
As we all know, this is a college which has expanded dramatically over the past few years. At one point they were considering moving the whole of the RVC to Hawkshead Lane, but in the event they've decided to keep some of it at their original and existing Camden base.  Nonetheless, the expectation is that the RVC wishes to expand further at Hawkshead Lane and later this year they will be submitting a new Master Plan of the site to take over from their previous one which never enjoyed wide support from residents or the local council.

In general I think that the RVC does want to see the problems resolved and it seems that it could be done with an additional 70 or so spaces (on top of the 40+ they're building). They say that these cannot be fitted into the existing RVC side of the road. I say that if they can't fit sufficient spaces in on that side or work out another method of alleviating the problem, then there's clearly not enough space to expand the RVC at all.

I was explicit in saying that as far as I am concerned I will not be able to support any further expansion unless the RVC, the two Local Authorities, Police and other agencies get a grip on the parking mayhem on Hawkshead Lane. Apart from anything else it's just unneighbourly to expand in an area and leave the local residents with the headache.

Of course it could be that with a new year and a new set of students who know from day one that they cannot bring and park their cars, combined with the additional 45 spaces which seem set to get the go-ahead and some kind of active stickering at the beginning of the term, the problem can be brought down to a minimum. I think that it is worth waiting to see how things look in September and will certainly put pressure on the RVC to play its part in helping to resolve the problem.

However, I think that it is equally as likely that there will still be a problem in September and so I will continue to actively monitor the situation having followed up on the various items above.

I will of course keep you posted via this thread.

Picture of me presenting a petition with around 350 names, including residents, lecturers and students, to the RVC Principal Professor Quintin McKellar.



Best wishes,
Grant.

[mickeyl]

Grant

I was one of the people involved with the Hawkshead Lane petition which you presented to the RVC.  Your efforts to resolve this isssue to the satisfaction of both the Residents of the Lane and other people who use it, are much appreciated.

It is difficult to comprehend how the Police can be reported as viewing the present situation of serious obstruction of the Lane, as being safer than an unobstructed Lane, say with Parking restrictions  That is the way the student parking problems were resolved in the Ellenbrook residental streets south of the new UH campus on the BAe site

[shapps]

Yes I'm at a loss to explain the reported police attitude on this one and will obviously report back once I've discussed this with the Chief Constable at our upcoming discussion. 

[mickeyl]

Would it not be possible for the RVC to run a bus service [mini-bus ?] coming in to the RVC from Potters Bar around midday, and then immediately returning to Potters Bar ??  This would reflect that not all students wish to spend all day at the RVC - say if they need to go to just one lecture.

Whilst this additional service may involve the RVC in more expenditure, they are temporarily saving up front capital and interest charges of building an additional  70+ vehicle car-park plus the ongoing maintenance costs

[shapps]

The Principal was very clear that the day was designed for the students to be there throughout, but I imagine that the circuit required for the bus is much more than just Potters Bar. I forget the precise figure, but they told me the cost of the existing service was hundreds of thousands of pounds. Perhaps since they already have the bus it wouldn't be that much more to run the extra day time service.

Grant.