Shepherd's Bush will not be allowed to become a car park for Westfield shoppers, according to west London council chiefs.
Britain's third largest shopping mall, Westfield London, opened today among a fanfare of celebrities and excitement but there are fears that the long term reality for residents could be a nightmare.
However, Hammersmith and Fulham Council insists it will do whatever its required to prevent this from happening.
It says it has already measured 'parking stress' in the side streets around the mega-mall and is concerned that residents' parking bays could become clogged up with Westfield shoppers.
It has also promised robust negotiations with senior management at Westfield to ensure that there is no incentive for shoppers to park on residential side streets.
The council has now said it is also prepared to use its powers to further protect residents' parking spaces.
Councillor Nicholas Botterill, H&F Council deputy leader, said: "We are acutely aware that the streets around Westfield could become clogged with Westfield's shoppers and staff. If this does happen, we can either fast track changes in the controlled parking restrictions in local streets nearest the development before Christmas or we can go through a full consultation process before beginning the necessary legal procedures which will mean that any changes cannot happen until well into next year"
The council Zone C with extended controls due to be introduced in November in the streets nearest to Westfield. But it is concerned that other residents particularly in Zone G may experience parking problems.
There are two options to sort out potential parking problems near Westfield. The first and fastest option could allow the normal consultation to be bypassed and could see parking spaces protected for residents before Christmas. The second option involves carrying out more consultation which would inevitably take much longer.
The more lengthy option involves carrying out on-street parking surveys once the traffic patterns have settled down post opening. This could start in a few weeks or could wait until February, depending on the scale of the problem and how quickly patterns of behaviour settle down. Once the survey results have been scrutinised, proposals for potential changes would be drawn up. A formal consultation process, lasting up to six weeks, could then take place in each of the controlled parking zones affected.
Following this stage a decision on how to change the parking restrictions in each area would be made by the council based on residents' feedback from the consultation. Small business interests would also have to be considered. Even then it would take another two months for the legal orders to be advertised, any formal representations considered and for the various new notices and traffic signs to be produced and installed, meaning that residents would not benefit from changes until well into next year.
If the impact of Westfield's parking is severe, these surveys can be brought forward enabling changes to be made sooner. But getting changes introduced this side of Christmas would require the council to omit the prior consultation with residents and businesses.
"We will monitor the parking situation around Westfield for a few weeks to allow things to settle down and for parking patterns to emerge", continues Mr Botterill. "At this stage, if residents locally demand urgent changes, we are prepared to cut through the time-consuming pre-consultation and in-depth surveys and act swiftly to put residents' interests first."
"We will respond responsibly and flexibly to parking issues around Westfield but one thing is for sure, Shepherds Bush will not become a Westfield car park."
"I suspect that residents will want the council to act as swiftly as possible to protect their interests. If they do, we will not hesitate to act quickly."
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