300 people sign parking petition (From Sutton Guardian)

MP and councillor call on St Helier staff to stop parking in neighbours' streets

9:33am Tuesday 18th December 2012 in News By Mike Pyle

More than 300 people signed a petition calling on a hospital to do more to stop staff and visitors parking outside their homes.

The petition calling for St Helier Hospital to increase on-site parking was handed to bosses by MP Tom Brake and Councillor Dave Callaghan on Friday.

Mr Brake said: "For far too long local residents have had to compete with hospital staff to park near their homes. Additional parking spaces and affordable fees would relieve the pressure on the roads surrounding the hospital and improve the quality of life for residents."

Coun Callaghan said he hoped the petition will make the hospital take into account the views of those living closest to it but said any changes will take time. The hospital is due to consult on what services it will provide after 2016 meaning its parking arrangements will not be significantly altered until then.

He added: "In the meantime the hospital says it will try to do something which is to talk to staff about parking considerately. They can help if they avoid blocking people in and that will improve the feeling among residents."

Nick Gorvett, the hospital's director of corporate infrastructure said: "We’d like to thank Tom Brake MP and Councillor Callaghan for coming in to meet with us.

"Like any big organisation, we recognise that it can be annoying for local residents when people who are visiting our hospitals park in their streets.  Whilst this is of course completely legal, we are committed to working with the council and other partners to alleviate the problem.

"This has included freezing parking charges at our hospitals for the last three years and running a regular shuttle bus between our sites so staff don’t have to drive.  We also encourage people to use other forms of transport, including buses and bikes and, if they are parking on local streets, to park responsibly."