Emergency vehicle access
Hamptons Sports & Leisure Centre is currently provided with 98 car park spaces, and historically has suffered from parking demands in excess of availability, particularly during private functions and space hire for events. Before the parking restrictions vehicles parked on the green space, but now visitors are often double parked, obstruct resident’s parking bays, block the pavements and use spaces on nearby residential areas.
In the time since the estate was built, there has been numerous concerns raised by residents with regards to access for emergency vehicles and this has been well documented by the management companies that have been responsible for estate management. This has been an ongoing concern for residents for some time.
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The acquisition of Hamptons Sports and Social Centre in 2020 by the Chelmsford Muslim Society raised further concerns, due to the potential this has to further increase the likelihood of problems with access being provided for emergency vehicles.
The new owners indicated their intentions to continue to operate the centre for public and community uses as it always has done, but also in addition to this they intend to provide a place of worship for up to 1000 worshippers (as quoted in their fund raising promotional pages).
CMS also made a number of promises about the management of mosque-related traffic and parking, which to date, they’ve never complied with.
Both the access routes to Hamptons are dangerously narrow and non compliant with a number of access standards.
What we saw on Good Friday, further reinforces the issues with emergency vehicle access, along non- compliant Tydemans, made far narrower by the presence of parked cars linked to the use for public worship at Hamptons.
Tydemans is already too narrow to allow a 3.7m fire engine, which would have to use the pavement to progress along the road.
