Mount Florida Community Council :: Parking Problems in Mount Florida during Major Events at Hampden Park

1) No warning was given to residents that parking restrictions were to start at 8am. The Temporary Traffic Notices posted on a number of lampposts merely indicated that restrictions would be in place on 53 streets commencing 1/4/06. Taking cars away at 8am seems ridiculous. On the present Hampden Traffic Order streets, restrictions start 2 or 3 hours before kick-off. Surely the Temporary Traffic Notices should indicate the times when restrictions will be in place.

2) Both on Saturday and Sunday, Parking Attendants could not tell Mount Florida Community Council the times of the restrictions. The answer given was once the cones go down and Parking attendants start their shift, the restrictions start. The cones were down at 6am and the Attendants were on the streets at 8am. The cones were down from 6am Saturday to after the Sunday game. Does this mean that residents cannot park outside their houses on Saturday night? If they do can they get tickets and their cars lifted?

3) The offending cars on Sunday were not taken to the pound in Bridgeton, as there was insufficient time to clear the streets in time for the game at 12.15pm. Many were given tickets.

4) Cars were lifted from Second Avenue at round 1.45pm - approximately 15 minutes from the end of the game. All restrictions seem to have ended when the Parking Attendants finished their shift (2pm?) There did not seem to be any parking restrictions in place (ie no Parking Attendants) at or near the end of the game - the time of most danger for pedestrians when 50,000 fans leave the area in about 15-20 mins having arrived over a period of 2 hours. Normally restrictions go on after the game has finished.

5) Is there an historic reason why parking is not allowed on Prospecthill Drive? No access at all is allowed there. Why can’t cars park on the grass? Parking is allowed on Bolivar, Brownlie and Lindores, why not Prospecthill Drive?

6) Extra coning was in place on Sunday on Carmunnock Road between Mount Annan and Second Avenue on both sides. The reason appears to have been to allow coaches to park there. Surely buses can drop fans off near the Stadium and pick them up later rather than displacing residents cars.

Overall, on Sunday, in our opinion, it was to an extent, the parking restrictions themselves, the lack of information about them and the unreasonable timing of their implementation which caused most of the problems to both residents and to Land Services personnel. On many of the streets involved in the Parking restrictions, particularly on the streets south of the stadium, basically the large majority of the people on the streets were parking attendants, the lorries removing the cars and residents complaining about events to the parking attendants. There were few fans taking these routes to the stadium. Sunday was not, in our opinion, a good advert for community engagement for Hampden or Land Services. In addition, it must have cost Land Services a fortune - was it all really necessary?

General Issues Surrounding Parking Restrictionsat Major Events at Hampden

1) Attached to this e-mail is a map of the restrictions in place in the area immediately surrounding the stadium. As can be seen there are 18 streets south and east of the stadium with parking restrictions and very few north of the stadium.

2) Now that Kinghorn Drive is not used as the principal access route into the Hampden car /coach park, are the restrictions necessary? In our opinion, they are not all necessary. We accept the need to keep the main access roads clear (the ones with 'no parking' on both sides - marked green).

We would like to start a dialogue with Strathclyde Police on the necessity for these restrictions to be continued. With consultation on the new Hampden Traffic Order due to start within a few weeks, this is, in our opinion, an ideal time to have this dialogue.

3) Residents are not told explicitly when and where they can/cannot park their cars on their streets (dates and times). This must be resolved. In the end, it must be agreed who will be responsible for informing residents of games. We are told the new Hampden Traffic Order will prescribe a new type of sign with this information displayed. Certainly cones are not a sufficiently effective indication (particularly where they are laid out 15-20 m apart) and they are easily moved/removed.

4) When many of the present parking restrictions were put in place, single-sided parking restrictions were acceptable as there was sufficient room for all residents’ cars on any given street to be accommodated on one side. Nowadays, cars fill both sides of these street plus overspill onto neighbouring streets in the evenings and weekends. These same restrictions now result in residents having to drive considerable distances to park their cars particularly in the ‘18 Street’ area of the present Hampden Traffic Order. Are these journeys really necessary?

5) Within the last year or two, plans were put forward by Land Services, in an attempt to address rat running and other traffic problems on Mount Annan Drive, to close the west end of Mount Annan /Kinmount/Third /Second Avenues. As the emergency services apparently gave these proposals their blessing, how can these roads be necessary for emergency access during events at Hampden?

6) There were restrictions around Mount Florida Station, on part of Bolton Drive and Florida Drive on Sunday. Why not on Clincart Road/Florida Street/McLellan Street/Cathkinview Road and the bottom end of Bolton Drive? Fans waiting to get onto trains normally queue down Bolton Drive, along Clincart Road and down Cathkinview Road. Surely these roads should be kept clear. Fans appeared to get clear of the station on Sunday very quickly. There were extra/special trains on Sunday. Are there normally special trains booked on major events at Hampden?

7) Looking beyond the immediate area surrounding the stadium, many of the restrictions are required to provide parking areas for coaches. Is there information displayed regarding these areas at each location, or is it left to cones?

8) Considering the area inside and around the Queens Park Recreation ground, with the construction of the new Victoria Hospital over the next few years, new parking arrangements for this area will have to be agreed as this is the ‘official’ National Stadium Car Parking area.

Overall, it is our opinion that with the new Hampden Traffic Order on the horizon, now is the ideal time for all those involved in major events at Hampden to get together to agree a new car parking management strategy which is acceptable to residents, Hampden and the Police which will ensure both fans’ and residents’ safety in our area. Many of the parking restrictions are obviously necessary, but others seem illogical or unnecessary and require to be reassessed.

Jim Scott
Chairperson
Mount Florida Community Council

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