Over the last 4 months I have been in conversation with the Purley Tesco Manager about making the car park a safe area for customers and staff alike. The issue of safety was heightened when a large number of cars descended on the car park recently, causing significant safety concerns and distress for residents and Tesco staff.
The Manager and I worked to come up with a best possible solution to ensure safety in the car parks. Essentially, the Manager and I came up with a few solutions including the introduction of one-way traffic spikes on the exit to Brighton Road (to prevent cars entering/reversing up this exit). From these discussions and suggestions, it was left for Tesco to come up with a low cost (minimal spend on their part), non-intrusive to the customer (no physical barriers for example), final solution to this matter. The result appeared as a planning application that was unsatisfactory and penalised residents as opposed to addressing safety concerns; Free parking for 30 minutes and then parking conditional on £5 being spent in store. The issue with this application was that the significant reduction in free time allocation did not take in the needs of residents who not only shop for groceries at Tesco but pop into the town centre too. This application would essentially deter people from visiting the town centre.
After holding several subsequent meetings with the Purley Tesco Manager to address residents’ concerns, I made clear I had not only opposed the application and referred it to the planning committee but suggested for the application to be withdrawn and better consultation with residents undertaken. Additionally, with the number of Residents Associations and customers who came together to object to the application, helped alert Tesco senior management to the unpopularity of the application. The application was finally withdrawn on the 2nd June.
I would like to thank the Purley Tesco Manager for listening to concerns and defending residents and customers of his store to his management team, who wanted to press ahead with the application. I would also like to thank the many residents and Residents Associations who articulated their objections through writing to the planning department at Croydon Council.
Going forward, I have asked for better consultation with residents on any significant proposed car park changes in the future. In the meantime, some preventative measures will be installed in the car park, such as one-way traffic spikes for the exit onto Brighton Road, to prevent motorists driving or reversing up it, as well as speed bumps that will be dotted around the car park including within parking bays, to prevent drivers speeding around/across the car park when it is relatively empty. Tesco Purley are still seeking other solutions in order to ensure the car park is safe and deters criminal activity. Suggestions on how to achieve this aside from the above is welcome so do please get in contact with me or with your Residents Association.
Cllr. Oni Oviri
