If you live in a street that has permit parking in places, you may be eligible to qualify for a resident and/or visitor permit.
If you wish to request a resident parking scheme in your street you can do so by post or email.
Resident Parking Schemes
The council receives many requests for Resident Parking Schemes. In general, requests fall within one of four categories:
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Residential amenity affected by commuter parking (all day)
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Residential amenity affected on a regular basis for short periods by influx of traffic (e.g. traffic associated with schools, parks, etc.)
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Insufficient kerbside space in residential area
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Certain streets under more ‘parking’ pressure than neighbouring streets.
Whilst the desire by residents for permit parking can, in many cases, be fully understood, the difficulties in enforcing such restrictions cannot be ignored.
The current Resident Parking Policy was established in September 2004. The principles of the policy are as follows:
• New schemes should only be considered where requested by residents or Members on residents’ behalf
• The introduction of a new scheme should only be considered where 85% of the kerbside parking capacity is being used and the proportion of non-residents car parking is greater than 30%
• A scheme would not be introduced unless it has the support of at least 50% of the households/businesses within the proposed zone/street
• It is considered necessary to introduce an annual residents charge (initially set at £15 per annum) to ensure that an expanded and enhanced scheme can be sustained.
There are specific instances where residents in a number of streets seek to park regularly in another street because of its perceived favourable location. The activity may be deemed to be of significant detriment to the residents of the favoured street. Feelings can run high and ongoing debates can become acrimonious. The times of most conflict will usually be weekday evenings and at weekends. Problems of this type unfortunately set resident against resident and any 'solution' is likely to increase tensions within communities and create significant enforcement difficulties at demanding times. Schemes will therefore not be considered in these instances. The operation and implementation of the policy has highlighted a number of issues that were not considered when the policy was established in 2004. The council is carrying out a full review of the policy which will be implemented in 2011.
How to request a resident parking scheme
Resident parking schemes are introduced where there is an all day commuter parking problem not where there are to many vehicles belonging to the residents of the area. To request a resident parking scheme in an area the request must be in writing and include the following:
• Your name and address
• The area you which to be considered for a resident parking scheme
• The days and times parking is an issue
• What is causing the problem
The area will be surveyed as soon as possible and if the criteria for a scheme is met then a consultation will be carried out with the residents. A scheme would only be successful if it met all the criteria of a scheme and the majority of residents are in favour of a scheme going ahead.If you would like to apply for a permit for an existing scheme please see the Resident Parking Permits section|.