Sunday, 7 June 2009
Parking permit scheme in Newtown
Parking is a massive problem in Newtown at the moment, and over the last year, I have been working hard with the residents and council officers to try to resolve this issue. Following on from the public meeting I organised and residents on Filey Road, presenting a petition to the council. The Council has looked into the introduction of parking permits across the whole Newtown area. There will be a report to the next Traffic Management Advisory Panel, which is on June 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Civic Centre.
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3 comments:
I agree that parking can be difficult in Newtown at times but about 9 times out of 10 I can at least park in my street i.e. Coventry Road. Depending on time it may take some driving around but I typically get a space (legally) somewhere in Newtown. I am strongly against parking permits for a number of reasons:
1) As residents I understand we would still need to pay for the permits for our own cars. I have already paid my road tax to use the public roads so this is another tax.
2) Visitors would need to display a permit - we need to pay for visitors permits so this is another cost and an infringement on our rights to have regular visitors e.g. who may live far enough away that it is not practical to walk or public transport may not be sufficient to undertake the journey (or take too long). I regularly have visitors - where else should they park?
3) Also take this example - for work I commonly require a hire car which gets delivered to the street during the day whilst I am at work - what is the situation then? I guess I run the risk of the vehicle receiving a parking ticket as I am not there to put a visitors permit on it. Can anyone clarify?
If other roads sign up to the parking permit scheme then it will put even more of a squeeze on the spaces available as potentially there could be empty spaces in a street with permits whilst not enough for the other roads.
OK this is a bit of a rant but I think I've made some valid points that I hope can be taken into consideration and hopefully in time for the meeting tonight which unfortunately I am unable to attend in person.
Hello Donna,
Full details of the Reading parking permit scheme can be found here.
I think I can answer your questions.
1 -- the first parking permit is free, there is a charge of about £55 for the second one and you normally can't get a third one.
2 -- you get 20 free visitors permits to start off with and then have to buy more up to a limit. If you have lots of visitors who come by car this would be a problem.
3 -- as I understand it if a rental car were dropped off and you didn't put a visitors permit on it it would be parked illegally. Again this is a problem but one which you may be able to work around.
I am hoping that by publicising that people who live close to a permit parking zone can apply for a permit that this will ease parking pressures a bit.
I think my main point is that there are definitely big parking problems in Newtown. A parking permit scheme may help the situation for some people. But for people to decide whether it is a good thing for them or not we need a detailed proposal on the table which people can then form an opinion on. The upshot of the Council meeting is that such a detailed plan will be drawn up by the Council.
Best wishes
Rob
Unlike your lucky contributor who lives in the same road as myself, I am often unable to get a space after 5pm in the evening. This means me having to search the roads in the area and having sometimes to park illegally, having to get up before the wardens come the following day, or having to park no where near my house. I am now over 60 and have felt vulnerable having to walk the streets in the dark. I am therefore very much in favour of parking permits for the whole area which gives me a bit more of a chance of finding a space somewhere near my road even if not actually in my road
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