Can Southeastern and Sevenoaks District Council join up on car parks?
Sevenoaks District Council wants to build a hotel on its car park opposite the station. To make up for lost parking it says it needs to add two decks to its other car park in Bradbourne Park Road, slightly further away. There are local objections to that.
We think that adding a single deck to the railway-owned car park in Morewood Close, in the way that has been done at Tonbridge, could be a better option for maintaining – and perhaps modestly expanding – car park capacity:
- it’s much bigger than the Council’s car park, so a single lightweight deck could carry as many cars as two decks in Bradbourne Park Road, and waste less space on ramps.
- it would be cheaper to build per space, so potentially better value for users.
- it wouldn’t draw all the traffic wanting to use it through the station lights, causing gridlock, or through residential areas.
- it would not place two extra storeys of car parking right next to houses.
Southeastern Railways have told us that they would like to build the decked car park on their bigger site, but that they don’t have the money. At the same time Sevenoaks District Council has access to the money, but plan to build in a less suitable, and more expensive, place.
There must be room for a deal that would work for everyone here:
- the Council uses its money more cost-effectively
- rail users who would get less congested access to Sevenoaks station
- the rail companies wanting to expand their facilities for their customers
- local residents who want to protect their streets from congestion.
We’re trying to get Sevenoaks District Council, Southeastern Railway and Network Rail to work together to make the best and most suitable use of the land and to make the most effective use of the funds available.
What do you think? Please let us know here.
Understand that Southeastern would not be able to make any car park investment pay over the period that remains on their contract. They may lose their franchise in 2018, which makes them a less than ideal negotiating partner for SDC.
@steve We don’t think that Southeastern would have been providing their own money anyway. The Orpington decking was funded from the £100m Station Commercial Project Fund, whose funders were the Department for Transport, Network Rail, and the Association of Train Operating Companies, and the decking (like the land) becomes the property of Network Rail. But it is Southeastern who have to make the case and bid to the fund.
From SDC’s reply to my tweet today, it appears they don’t plan to engage with Southeastern on car parking plans. This would seem to be a mistake, on the face of it, judging by what you have just said. Perhaps, though, the issue is that with Southeastern’s franchise having only 2 years to run, they are becoming a “lame duck” operator and thus wouldn’t get much of a hearing from the Fund.
So far Network Rail have agreed to follow up our suggestion and talk to Sevenoaks District Council about a way forward. The District Council has agreed to take the call. Southeastern’s manager who drew up their plan retired last week, and the person taking over is on leave. We probably need all three in the room to make things happen …. so watch this space.
This is a completely wrong idea. The priority for Sevenoaks should be to reduce private car traffic and move to a more sustainable future based on alternatives modes of transport. Building more car parking spaces at the station will only produce more congestion and more pollution and SRTA should not be moving in this direction. Attracting more commuters to use Sevenoaks as a rail head to get to London will bring no benefits to the town economy and harm the environment. Every single vehicle will travel through an Air Quality Management Area where emissions for NO2 already exceed the legal minimum. And the trains to London in the peak hours are already overcrowded. Think again.
The number of extra spaces at Morewood Close depends on how big the deck is. It could add more than the number lost at the Sennocke site – but probably not too many. The worst outcome would be if both Morewood Close and Bradbourne Park Road were decked. That is what could happen if SDC and the rail companies don’t talk to each other. The reasons for preferring Morewood Close include getting the traffic away from the station junction – which makes it safer for cyclists and pedestrians.
If we had better (integrated) bus travel in the District then people wouldn’t need to use their cars. The obvious option is to bring TFL Zones to cover Sevenoaks so we get London buses serving Sevenoaks, Dunton Green, Bat & Ball (etc) stations as they already serve Knockholt. Then your Oyster card would cover you and you wouldn’t need to drive. I live very close to a station so parking isn’t an issue for me personally.