This may be moot considering that Trinity have now backed down but the following points should be a matter of record:

1) Taylor Wimpey's sales pitch regarding the estate being listed as private was to allow road parking. Ostensibly because the council would have used double yellow lines.
2) The parking issues are in part caused by inconsiderate or lazy parking but largely down to poor planning on behalf of the developer. Both private and visitor spaces are still unavailable while work is completed. How can any parking management management scheme be put in place while the estate is still incomplete?
3) As noted in a previous post, new guidelines on development state that 4 bedroom properties should be built with adequate parking for 3+ vehicles. The majority of 4-bed houses on Heath Meadow's have 1 space. On this basis, should any action regarding parking management come into play, Taylor Wimpey's abject planning and sales misinformation should also be held to account. The use of a garage that is too small to accommodate a modest sized family car does not qualify as a second space.

As a suggestion to improving the flow of traffic on the estate:

1) Taylor Wimpey to free up the existing 'sales' spaces on Wellington Way. They are rarely all in use by prospective buyers. Many buyers choose to park directly outside the sales office or further down Drake's avenue.
2) Where inconsiderate parking presents a hazard (blocking the blind corner on Wellington Way) use road markings to demarcate the area as strictly no parking. This doesn't need to be enforced by wardens, but does at least indicate that the area is off limits - if someone cannot abide by this simple rule then direct action against offenders can be taken rather then affecting the entire estate.
3) Taylor Wimpey could (and based on the above, should) offer to convert single driveways to double driveways where feasible.

Finally, Trinity Estates approach to this matter was unprofessional, contemptuous to residents and above all inaccurate. Does anyone really want to be managed by a company with a known history for poor service and a record for being mercenary. Did anyone else question the above inflation price-rise to the management fee? Was anyone surprised by Trinity's speed to threaten litigation if a bill is queried? They are well known for underhand tactics.

If the parking problem becomes too much I'd rather try a resident's committee approach. I'd rather move out then have the estate managed by Trinity Estates - it's a licence to be ripped off.

Hello All

Whilst I am not a fan of ticketing in relation to the parking something does need to be done. Blenheim road has pretty much been blocked in the last couple of weeks on two occaisions which results in trying to work out who owns the vehicles in question so they can be moved.

One other matter is the parking on Wellington Way which is dangerous for pedestrians and more so for drivers who have to pull out wide so they can negotiate the van that is usually parked on the corner of Wellington Way this is completely blind with no way of knowing what vehicles may be approcahing the other way.

Parking will always be an issue unless something is done as common sense doesn't seem to feature in all cases when parking of cars.

A little common sense and consideration would help enormously.

Hi All,
Thank you to the Heath Meadow Resident who put their letter through our door, we didn't receive any letter from Trinity. I think this forum is a good idea and it serves well that the residents of heath meadow can communicate with one another and thus become a friendly 'working - together' neighbourhood.
I do not agree with ''ticketing'' in anyway. I think we pay enough to live here as it is. I am owner of a 3 bed and fortunate to have 2 spaces. When we moved in 6months ago we were told we had 3 VP spaces between us and our 5 neighbours. That seemed very fair at the time. Then 1 space was taken and made into a private parking space which left us with two VP spaces, that we never get the chance to use as other residents have been parking in them permantly for reasons unknown to me but i had heard it was because there spaces weren't finished yet. Which is fair enough. I personally find the parking on Wellington Way dangerous. Mostly on the bend that leads to Blenheim Road. There is always a car or a transit van parked to the right hand side of the VP spaces and this obstucts your view of any oncoming vehicle - on top of this you are on the wrong side of the road coming down due to cars being parked on the roadside?? I have a few times had a scare that i could go head on into another car, if that driver was not taking the same care that i was in coming round. Touch wood this has never happened, but i can see it taking place.I am in hope that when the development is complete this may help with access to more parking in the long run. My other concern when i am onfoot with my child in his buggy and i make my way out of the alley way to be met with a car parked right across it so i have to walk across the grass verge and plants to get round it. Then juggle my way round cars parked on the pavement which isn't a major concern until one time there was a car parked vertically behind a car parked on the drive leaving me with no choice but to walk on the road to get round it. It was just the one occasion but i thought i would mention it as everyone here seems to agree that any parking problems can be resolved if we all take consideration for one and other. I agree with this too. I also think if everyone parked in their allocated spaces it would leave more space on the roadside where its perfectly safe for extra visitors to park. Freeing up the road and making life easier for everyone. I would also like to add that last week on my walk home from school with my child in his buggy and my older child on foot, we had a car pull across infront of us whilst we were walking on wellington way heading to the alley with no warning he drove straight across the path about 5 foot infront whilst we were walking and pulled into his space making me stop in my tracks and grabbing my child onfoot to stop him from being hit, the driver seemed to have no regard whatsoever for us and that was pretty dangerous in my eyes. Other than that, i enjoy living here, it's a vast improvement of where i used to live. I have found the majority of the neighbours i am slowly getting to know are all friendly and easy going. Thank you for taking the time to read my opinions.

We personally, havent received any letter from Trinity about the parking. We have had our driveway extended to accomodate two cars as we did forsee a problem with cars parked down the road. When we have visitors it would be nice if they could use a `visitors space' however due to residents using them full time I guess this will be a struggle, meaning that although we have done all we can to park off road our visitors may be peanalised.

From previous experience of living elsewhere on other estates, a big part of the problem of parking comes from residents in the flats. A lot of them seem to want to park right outside the main entrance to the block, rather than in their allocated space round the back, which does seem to be a bit of a problem on the corner of Drakes Avenue as the road bends to the left. There are also commercial vehicles parked up which, as a previous poster suggested isnt perhaps the best use of space.

In relation to the council guidelines for parking spaces, and getting Taylor Wimpey to pay for a driveway extension(!), I doubt this will go anywhere, as the council would have had to grant planning permission based on Taylor Wimpeys plans for parking spaces.

We will wait and see what the outcome is!!

It is very rare to find unsafe parking on the site. I live in the drakes avenue flats and were told that 3 visitors parking spaces are available meeting the standards highlighted below. 2 have now been turned into numbered spaces for residents. I'm assuming to make a sale. I haven't looked into whether this was part of the contract or not.

It will be interesting to see what arrangements are made. Private company parking tickets are typically not legally required to be paid. They will send a number of threatening letters to the registered owner but completely ignore them and they will go away. Clamping on the other hand can't be avoided.

I think this is a case of power in numbers and if trinity won't listen to the majority then we need to make moves to arrange for a company who will represent our needs. I am still waiting for a key to access my property after 2 weeks of having the locks changed, totally unacceptable service. From the posts here it sounds like at least 75% are against there unfair measures, prevent parking on both sides of the road and on corners and everything will be fine. Prevent all parking and they'll need to find a new estate to manage.

They damaged my car after installing the barriers outside the show homes as they were higher than the legal requirement, hence they have been removed.

Off topic but we also have one wheely bin to share between 18 apartments, probably has the capacity for 15 bags and always overflows and rubbish isn't collected. Contact them and get ignored.

Hi all,

I also received a reply from my email to Trinity today, as follows:

"The letter sent out was directed at all residents, although the clause only relates to the apartments. Trinity is currently checking all transfer documents before we go any further.

Furthermore I have been in contact with Taylor Wimpey whom I will be meeting on site at the end of June to try and resolve this situation without a parking enforcement company.

Parking on the road is acceptable, in some cases; residents are double parking causing some residents difficulty driving on through e development."

Further to this I can't believe that they sent out a uniform letter to everyone even those who do not have those clauses in their contract. They should have checked the transfer documents first before sending out letters, not now! I also do not think that the parking around the estate is dangerous and the only thing that is are the people who speed down Wellington Way every morning! parked cars will slow them down if anything (did there used to be speed bumps?)

I did not buy my house off plan so did not have the benefit of a Wimpey rep telling me about the parking and therefore went from the information on my transfer which does not state that you cannot park in the road., and i never though there would be a problem. From what I can gather from Trinity's response above parking on the road is fine as long as we all use common sens not to double park and to always allow enough space for large/emergency vehicles and pedestrians to pass.

I had always planned to get my driveway extended, but in my own time and not because I am forced to

Poppy

I received a letter back from Trinity yesterday, managed to forget to bring it with me, but I'll paraphrase the basics.

They said they have decided not to bring in parking enforcement right now and explained they were given incorrect information from Taylor Wimpey in regards to the Transfer Agreements.

They will be meeting with Taylor Wimpey and also setting up a residents meeting so that we can openly discuss any parking issues. I would like to think that this would lead to us all understanding better how people see the parking situation on the development and helping us all to be more considerate.

I, for one, have put in extra effort to get my car on our driveway (along with the other household car) whenever possible to help keep Wellington Way clearer.

I have lived on the Heath Meadows estate for about eight months now and am surprised by the letter from Trinity Estates regarding the parking.
 
I have checked my transfer and as with most people, do not appear to have the paragraphs listed in the letter.  I would like to see Trinity’s hard copy of the transfer and also the letters/ emails from the complainants so as to assess the exact nature of the complaints.
 
My main points are as below and some replicate those already mentioned.  
 
Surely cars parked on the road slow traffic down, making the roads on the estate safer?  Cars generally seem to park half on the pavement and half on the road.  This seems to afford access for vehicles and I have seen people pushing pushchairs/prams etc on the pavements passed cars parked like this and they have no apparent problems.
 
The main ‘culprits’ for the parking on the road appear to be for numbers 1-9 Wellington Way.  According to the plans, their off road parking is just on the right as you turn into Wellington Way from Drakes Avenue.  These currently have signs saying ‘no parking’ as they are for Taylor Wimpey prospective buyers.  If these were freed up, I think half the problems would be solved.  
 
I also think that perhaps, prospective buyers are coming to view the houses and on arrival, seeing all the cars and being put off buying a house due to a lack of parking.  Could Taylor Wimpey  be one of the complainants due to lack of sales?
 
I am quite interested in converting my front garden to an extra driveway as I don’t particularly like parking on the road.  Would Taylor Wimpey be prepared to do this for me as at present I can’t afford it and if they’d complied with the Bedfordshire Parking Standards Draft mentioned previously, I wouldn’t be in this position?
 
Is parking off the estate really an option?  Churchill Road is already pretty crowded with cars and I don’t imagine the residents there or the council would take too kindly to us parking our cars there.  Also, would the council cover the estate in double yellow lines if they adopted the road?  I haven’t seen this on any similar estates in Leighton Buzzard or any other towns I have travelled to in the last few years.
 
As far as obstruction of the road goes, the street sweeper we pay for seems to manage every day which leads me to believe other such large vehicles could get through if needed, and as I mentioned previously I have seen numerous people with pushchairs walk past parked cars with no issues.
 
Finally, I’m sure we are all reasonable people and if there is a problem with someone’s parking then we should knock on the nearest door and see who’s car it is.  Then something could be done to accommodate the individual circumstance.  I agree, aesthetically it doesn’t look great but what else can we do in the circumstances?

Steve,

You may have misunderstood my message, I am not in favour of the scheme and have expressed this opinion to Mac Littleworth and explained that the restriction will not apply to me or my visitors. It appears that this will be the case for most properties and that Taylor Wimpey has supplied Marc with incorrect information on the Transfer Agreements. It is unclear how the restrictions can be enforced if our contracts do not contain the relevant clauses. Marc has mentioned that the parking permits will need to be purchased; I am not willing to pay for additional permits when I already pay an estate charge.

My post was to highlight that the scheme is being looked at due to some residents and visitors parking inconsiderately. We chose this development ahead of Billington and other Milton Keynes estates because it was open and a safe environment for children to play. Billington is very cluttered and has cars double parked on every street; I do not want this development to go the same way. It is down to all of us to be sensible and not spoil it for the majority.

It seems that there is definitely a consensus of opinion to oppose the parking restrictions. I would support any action being taken to stop them being enforced provided parking on the development improves.

I am sure that a residents forum could start to look at other issues such as the value for money that Trinity provide.

Regards

Paul

Are as follows:

Marc Littleworth | Senior Estate Manager | AIRPM
Marc.Littleworth@trinityestates.com

Direct: 07918 672330
Tel: 0845 345 1584
Fax: 0845 345 1586
www.trinityestates.com

Trinity Estates | Vantage Point | 23 Mark Road | Hemel Hempstead | Hertfordshire | HP2 7DN

this proposal is ridiculous, i have been on the phone to trinity and expressed my disapproval toward placing a ticketing system in place. In the whole year i have lived at drakes avenue i have never seen or witnessed a problem restricting access for passing vehicles. i would also liked to express the limited amount of visitors parking spaces in the whole of heath meadows which i believe to be about 5!!, and yes very well the customer sales ones will become available eventually in about 2 years but this is still not enough considering the vast amount of people living in the area. Living in a flat i have my own space and one car so there is no direct threat to myself, but with only few spaces available for family and friends to visit, that would surely be a put off for them to come and visit and complete worry that they will receive a fine, we our selves as residents pay enough fees already without others being imposed!!! by trinity. i will be attending the commitee meeting and fight againts this proposal and i strongly suggest others to follow suit to stop this plan moving ahead. i also agree with someone elses view that it will have a dramatic effect on the value of your property if and when it becomes a time to move on in life, as it will be a tremendous draw back for a buyer. also when purchasing this property i was never told that you could not park on the road side after all thats what be pay our roadtax for! fair enough if it has double yellow lines, or pay and display, etc!

Hi Andrew,

The ideal situation would be that we all get one visitors space each, but I guess that would be quite a lot to ask for in the circumstances. At the moment we don't have any problem, but maybe in the future if the situation changes they could consider putting 2 extra spaces within the cul-de-sac. I'm not sure a ticketing scheme is really needed in our area, because I believe we can sort things out amongst ourselves. In terms of health and safety there is no problem in my opinion. Pulling out on to Wellington Way can be a bit tricky, but with a little bit of care it is not too much of a problem...

All,

I still believe as a community we all need to pressure Trinity, Taylor Wimpey and if need be the local council into reviewing the parking situation at Heath Meadows because it is a problem that is not likely to go away in the near future...

Scott

The main problem we have is that living in a 4 bedroom terrace we are being charged a Estate Fee (£76.66) plus an additional Parking Charge (£44.26), which only a few are being charged. Our expectation is that by paying this charge we should have exclusive rights along with the other houses in our cul-de-sac to park in that area, which Mark verbally agreed to, but has still to document appropriately. It seems a little bit unjust when people in the 2-3 bedroom houses have been allocated 2 spaces per household.





Hi Scott,

Its Andrew at number 16 - I am totally with you on that point 100%

Hi All,

I've had quite a few conversations with Mark Littleworth by telephone/email, as well as a meeting with him at our development. Unfortunately, every time we raise our own points and concerns with Trinity we seem to be given little support and generally feel like they are just fobbing us off.

The main problem we have is that living in a 4 bedroom terrace we are being charged a Estate Fee (£76.66) plus an additional Parking Charge (£44.26), which only a few are being charged. Our expectation is that by paying this charge we should have exclusive rights along with the other houses in our cul-de-sac to park in that area, which Mark verbally agreed to, but has still to document appropriately. It seems a little bit unjust when people in the 2-3 bedroom houses have been allocated 2 spaces per household.

I suggested they speak to Taylor Wimpey and the council to look at the parking situation in our area, but they appear to be avoiding this option. The Taylor Wimpey North Thames region team suggested that we used our integral garage as our second parking space - in reality, very few people use garages for cars nowadays. The parking for the whole site is a problem, so surely it’s time they look at the arrangements here in more detail. It is unsafe in areas and people now seem to be parking without any consideration for their neighbours (both drivers and pedestrians). Trinity have not helped themselves here - rather than speaking to the people who will be affected by their ideas they have just gone ahead, which is the wrong approach.

When we were sold our property, the Taylor Wimpey sales team said how nice it would be for residents to have a management company maintaining the development - rather than the local council, who would surely put yellow lines everywhere. The parking restrictions put in place by Trinity were never mentioned!

It would probably be best for everyone to meet up with Trinity to discuss their concerns as it seems they have not taken them into account so far. I think it is fair to say there are not enough spaces and the arrangements they and Taylor Wimpey have put in place are inadequate. There are inconsistencies from one side of the site to another that need to be investigated before a ticketing scheme is put in to place, especially as some are already paying more than the people who have already been given an allocated second space. It is not fair to say that people knew this when they were buying their properties because in most cases residents have not been given the same information and that is where the problem lies. The consistency of the information provided by Trinity to date has been poor, which is disappointing when you consider the fact that they are getting paid good money to manage the development on our behalf.

With regards,

Scott & Kellie - 20 Wellington Way

Paul,

I moved here in March and have occasionally parked on the road directly outside my house. There is ample room for the developers JCB machine to pass by, so I don't consider my doing so as inconsiderate. Trinity are employed to maintain the roads/lighting etc. They are not a law unto themselves, imposing their view on all residents without even consulting them?

I just feel that as long as you park with regard to your neighbours and treat others in the way that you would like to be treated, things could be managed reasonably. Getting the management company to employ a firm of ticketers/clampers to fine residents is too strong a measure.

I have today received the transfer papers from my solicitor and can confirm that the statements made by Trinity in their letter are not within my documents?

I would most certainly be in favour of forming a residents committee and sacking Trinity if they start this scheme. I would most certainly not pay any fines if imposed and would encourage all residents to refuse to pay. Their only option would be to take every person to court to try to enforce this plan. If nobody paid, they would soon give up.

It would seem to me that in the short time that this forum has been up & running, you are in the minority so far. What gives your opinion more credibility than what appears to be the majority view. Why should the majority have the views of a minority forced upon them.

Steve