WICK RESIDENTS ARE OPPOSED.

A second public meeting is being held to discuss proposals for a bus lane in Hampton Wick.

Transport committee chairman Councillor Raymond Hart will sit on a panel with Hampton Wick councillors to answer further questions from locals, many of whom are opposed to the bus land scheme.

The meeting, at Teddington School on February 9 at 7pm, is expected to receive a large turn out; up to 300 attended the last meeting on Tuesday, January 6.

Representing Hampton Wick is chairman of its residents association Colin Paine. He said: "Cars queueing for the Bentalls and John Lewis car parks from the bridge should be moved to another site, maybe a new car park could be created at the gas works site.

"And lights should be installed at the roundabout on the Hampton Court site to give Hampton Wick traffic a chance to get on to Kingston Bridge."

Disabled driver Jean Brown currently parks outside her home in Upper Teddington Road. She is worried about the alternatives if a bus lane is put in - which will mean the loss of 43 parking spaces.

She said: "I suffer from arthritis and have an orange badge. What am I going to do if I can't park along the road. Side roads like Beverley Road and Warwick Road are full at nights. I want to know what the council proposes to do for people like me. Will they pay for my front garden to be turned into a driveway?"

Hampton Wick councillor Tony Arbour, is organising a petition opposing the scheme. He criticised a recent postal questionnaire sent out to residents living around Hampton Wick by saying it was not wholly representational.

He said: "The questionnaire was also sent to people who lived further away so are not as affected by the scheme as others.

"The council wants to get people to travel by bus but not all the people in Hampton Wick travel by bus.

"Longer traffic jams will cause more pollution."

Coun Arbour is now organising a petition opposing a bus lane to present to the council.

Transport committee chairman Raymond Hart said: "No one has the right to park outside their home.

"The problem is that people working in Kingston are parking in Hampton Wick and walking across the bridge to work.

"The main benefit of the scheme is to improve public transport."

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