Enterprise cars and vans have been occupying bays on streets around Ravenscourt Park, leading to a backlash from locals forced to park further afield
A vehicle rental firm has been accused of clogging up streets surrounding a West London park, forcing families to park further afield and temporarily blocking the entrance to one resident’s driveway.
Enterprise, an American rental firm with operations worldwide, runs an office on King Street in Hammersmith and Fulham not far from Ravenscourt Park. Residents living nearby have raised the alarm over the company’s use of local bays for customers to park the vehicles, which they say turns the neighbourhood into “Piccadilly Circus” most mornings.
Drew Palmer, who has lived on Ravenscourt Road with his family for six years, said the issue has gotten particularly bad in the last 12 months or so.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “Some of [the vehicles] are not locked properly at night, the windows aren’t shut, so you will have a car alarm going off at two or three in the morning. I have a dog it will drive absolutely mad. It will just echo up and down the street, because generally the street’s quite a quiet street.”
The size of the vehicles parked also proves a challenge for other drivers, with photos seen by the LDRS showing numerous large vans occupying bays along Ravenscourt Road.
“The other issue we have is, there’s John Betts School just up there, there’s Latymer Upper School there, and there’s Ravenscourt Park Prep School there,” Mr Palmer said. “So all these kids are dropped off in the mornings, and there’s school clubs on Saturdays, and there’s nowhere to park.”
In one instance Mr Palmer, who does not rely on a parking bay himself, said an Enterprise van covered much of the entrance to his driveway for 36 hours over a weekend.
He said: “It was a Saturday morning, because there’s no parking restrictions here on Saturday or Sunday. It wasn’t until Monday morning I stomped up there, absolutely livid because we couldn’t get in.”
Michael Rivers, another resident who has been escalating concerns about Enterprise, claimed a further issue is that the firm is technically trading on the street without the relevant licence.
Mr Rivers said: “If they want to pretend that it’s not trading then they must put that on record formally, and we will contest that. Because it is trading, and it requires a licence and we will move Hammersmith not to grant them a licence.”
Mr Palmer also spoke on this point, telling the LDRS: “What is I think the illegal point is they’re actually trading. So the customers, the people who are hiring the cars, are encouraged to drop the vehicles here and also collect the vehicles from here. And there’s lots of photos.
“There were people here this morning, Enterprise staff with their iPads checking the things, actually doing the commercial trade here. So the actual trading aspect is definitely illegal unless they have a particular licence for that, and that I gather…has been challenged.”
Mr Rivers claimed the use of the bays by Enterprise appears to be a financial ploy, with the cost far less than paying for a larger depot to store its fleet.
“There are 62 or 63 parking spaces,” he said. “Enterprise regularly occupy at least 18 to 20 of those parking spaces with marked vehicles and you know that there are unmarked vehicles as well.
“So they’re sequestering a public asset for private profit because the cost of parking and the cost of tickets is far, far, far below what it would cost them to operate a yard. And those are the economics of it.”
He added the council’s record on the matter has been “very complacent and lax”, and called for further enforcement.
A petition urging Hammersmith and Fulham Council to stop Enterprise trading on Ravenscourt Road, which is due to run until October 18, has received more than 200 signatures. If it gets to 250 it will be debated by Cabinet.
Reiterating the impact of Enterprise parking in such numbers on local streets, Mr Palmer said: “You have to park miles away. Or if you’ve got young children with your shopping or prams or strollers, then you’re stuffed. Absolutely stuffed.
“So what they have done is, they do park in the summer holidays in [a nearby] church, and in a school further up. But their business is so big now, the volume, the sheer volume of vehicles is getting worse by the week, by the month.”
Another resident, Molly Ceglowski, said: “Finding a space to park is such an ordeal that I start feeling cross 15 minutes before we even get home.”
A spokesperson for Enterprise said: “Enterprise is committed to being a good neighbour in the communities where we operate. We understand the concerns that have been raised about parking and traffic around this busy location and are actively working to address them.
“We have engaged with community leaders and secured additional overflow parking, which was placed into service this week to help ease congestion. We make every effort to ensure our vehicles are parked appropriately and in compliance with local regulations.
“We’ll continue to look for solutions to relieve congestion, and we apologise for any inconvenience experienced.”
A Hammersmith and Fulham Council spokesperson said: “We heard from local residents that they were fed up with rental cars and vans taking up parking spaces near Ravenscourt Park. We recently spoke to Enterprise rental and they agreed to find a new solution. We are monitoring the situation closely and appreciate everyone working together to solve this problem.”
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