Families dwelling close to the Elizabeth Line say parking chaos makes them dread leaving their properties
Families who live near an Elizabeth Line stop have said leaving their houses fills them with ‘dread’ after the station brought parking mayhem on to their streets.
Residents from Abbey Wood in southeast London say they have been unable to park outside their homes, with cars being left on pavements – and add they are being kept up at night by people smashing bottles as they return home in the early hours of the morning.
Nuwan Hugh Perera, 35, said the loose parking restrictions on his street have worsened the already present difficulties that come with raising a 13-week-old baby.
Mr Perera joins the more than 100 people who have signed a petition calling for stricter parking restrictions on the residential streets surrounding the Abbey Wood station, which opened in 2022.
The new father said he moved to the area in 2024 because of ‘how quiet it is’, but has been left feeling distressed from the the overly populated streets.
He continued: ‘Whenever I leave the house I dread the feeling of “will that spot be gone?”
‘As I’ve got a 13-week-old baby it becomes more difficult.
‘If there’s no parking here, I have to stop the car in the middle of the road, put my hazards on, help my wife take the baby inside, and then find parking somewhere else.’
Families who live near an Elizabeth Line stop have said leaving their houses fills them with ‘dread’ after the station brought parking mayhem on to their streets
Oliver G. Cole, 34, moved to Abbey Wood from Canary Wharf three years ago, said he and his software developer husband struggle to use their car on the weekends, while those utilising their street as a car park often drive on to pavements and cause ‘drunken’ chaos at night
Parking restrictions differ as to which side of the street one’s house is on.
On the Greenwich side, parking is restricted to residents for only two hours – 11am to 1pm – between Monday to Friday, and at a cost of £62.40 a year for a permit.
Meanwhile on the side closer to Bexley restrictions extend into the early evening.
Locals argue the conditions, which were introduced around 2008, mean drivers arrive ‘en masse’ at 1pm to use the Elizabeth line station.
The Elizabeth line generally operates from around 5.30am until midnight.
The struggle residents face to secure parking continues into the weekend, which Mr Perera described as ‘incredibly difficult’.
He continued: ‘On a Friday evening or a Saturday, the spot’s gone if you go to a shop.
‘I can sometimes see a vehicle behind me as I leave and parking in my spot.
Nuwan Hugh Perera, 35, said the loose parking restrictions have worsened the already present difficulties that come with raising a 13-week-old baby
Residents from Abbey Wood, London say they are being kept up at night by the smashing of bottles by people returning home in the early hours of the morning
‘Being residents, I think we should have a bit more of a priority in parking to make it easy for us to get to the shop and get back and have a spot.’
This is a reality shared by petition organiser Oliver G. Cole, 34, who moved to Abbey Wood from Canary Wharf three years ago, buying the house for £400,000.
The singer said parking restrictions mean he and his software developer husband struggle to use their car on the weekends, while those utilising their street as a car park often drive on to pavements and cause ‘drunken’ chaos at night.
He also struggles to charge his electric car as charging bays are regularly occupied by non electric cars.
The couple are currently in the midst of renovations, which are becoming trickier due to the lack of parking.
He said: ‘We come back from B&Q with heavy bags and there’s no space here, no space in the second street, no space in the third street – it’s a struggle.
‘We’d like to see a bit more for the money we pay – more hours where it feels like it’s private for us and residents, not just for anyone to use as free Lizzy line parking.’
This privacy, Mr Cole said, is being disturbed by the late night antics of those coming home.
Despite the sentiment of his neighbours, Tom Harding, 33, is sympathetic to the people who park outside his house, adding he ‘would have done the same thing’
He added: ‘Around midnight with the last Lizzy line, people come back drunk and they are very loud on the streets.
‘All the cars are leaving at once.
‘They smash bottles – they come back drunk from central London and they want the party to go on.’
While Mr Cole sympathised with people who need to park their car, he added greater consideration could have been given to ‘the impact of the cars the station is bringing’.
Non-resident Jas Heer, 31, parked his car on Conference Road in Abbey Wood – a four-minute walk from the station – after the 1pm restriction to meet his friends in central London.
He used to park slightly further away from the station, near his mother’s home in neighbouring Bexley borough, but after restrictions were updated to stop non-residents from parking until 5pm, he started parking closer.
He said: ‘I live about 10 miles away, on the other side of Bexley, but this is a convenient tube station.
‘I’ve got access to parking spaces in London, but this is easier isn’t it?
‘It’s a busy station but I’ve never seen anarchy here.’
In response to residents’ call for tighter restrictions, he said: ‘If they’re unhappy with it, they pay the rates, they look out their window and they don’t want to see my beautiful car.’
One nearby car park costs £17.20 a day, which commuter Temi, 37, said would be a ‘devastating’ extra cost, though she understands both sides.
She said: ‘There’s not much parking here – everything is permit only until after one o’clock. [If they made it residents’ only], that would be inconvenient.
‘It would be devastating, it’s just an extra cost. I get it, it’s parking and maybe you don’t want people outside your house.
‘For me, I’m just trying to get to work and keep costs low. If not, I’d have to travel a bit further out and pay more to get into London.
‘I see it both ways.’
Despite the sentiment of his neighbours, Tom Harding, 33, is sympathetic to the people who park outside his house, adding he ‘would have done the same thing’, but would like restrictions to be extended to the weekends.
He said: ‘It is so much more convenient to go from here to central London, and you can park here for free.
‘I would have done the same thing.
‘I don’t really mind walking to my car, but it’s annoying when you come in late and you’ve got stuff you want to get out of your car and have to keep walking back and forth’.
He added: ‘The bare minimum, extending restrictions to the weekend – that’s the important thing to me.’
The petition calls for stricter regulations on Saturdays and Sundays; an extension of ‘weekday enforcement’ beyond the current window of 11am to 1pm; and an increase in ‘parking enforcement’ in order to ‘address unsafe and illegal parking’.
The Greenwich council have been contacted for comment.
