Gloucestershire County Council has said that the new residents’ parking permit scheme for Kingsholm should be active and go live on the 10th of July.
Lib Dem councillor for Kingsholm, Cllr. Jeremy Hilton has said that the process to get here has been long and drawn out, but there has been rigorous consultation with residents.
Cllr. Hilton said: “The traffic regulation order is due to be made on the 18th of May and it will be advertised in the local paper. Everyone who responded to the consultation will be notified.
“The purpose of the new parking regulations is to give priority to residents and to relieve the area of parking congestion. Over the years I have had many requests to do something about the parking congestion problems in Kingsholm. Hopefully the new scheme, which has been subject to thorough design and consultation processes will improve the situation.”
Letters are then due to be sent to residents just before 5th June 2023 outlining the start of the installation works. This will also contain details directing residents on how to purchase parking permits.
Residents will be entitled to two permits per household. The cost of the first permit is £63.65 and the second car £127.60. There is a reduced charge for Eco cars (vehicle excise duty band A). Residents can also purchase 50 visitor vouchers a year.
Could you confirm how many residents have complained about parking issues over the years please? I would like to compare it against how many are complaining about the scheme being introduced. Thank you.
The parking review was a periodic review of the existing regulations. It was extended to include the wider community. Residents have been requesting resolution of parking congestion and parking obstructions at junctions and on footways over the last few years.
It’s becoming more apparent how badly thought out this scheme is as the lines and bays are being painted, if anything, the number of parking spaces is being reduced, as a result of the space required to mark out the bays, bad parking in the bays is already evident resulting in one car taking up the space of two,
The app to sign up for the permit is generating a number of issues and I for one will not be chasing round trying to resolve any of these issues if it does not work when I try to sign up
It’s very apparent that lots of people didn’t want this. They may have wanted (including myself) better parking but were not informed of the detail until everything was approved. Once the detail has been put to us as you can see from various platforms it’s been met with disagreement. It’s a real shame we’re all having to spend so much of our time dedicated to this without any local authority support. That’s why people are very cynical towards the local authority with comments like “stealth tax” and a “money making scheme ” .
There was considerable consultation ahead of making the traffic regulation order. I did pass on comments I received to the parking team managing the process. By its nature the parking permit scheme being introduced on the 10th of July cannot please everyone. I will be scrutinising implementation and operation of the new parking regulations. Here is the timeline
Kingsholm Parking Timeline
• Camera car survey carried 2020 before Covid 19 pandemic and during
• Informal consultation 31 August – 15 October 2021 with draft plans
• Public meeting 28th September 2021 at Roots Cafe – organised by KWNP
• Formal consultation 7 July – 19 August 2022 with proposed plans
• Amended scheme consultation 7th October – 4th November 2022
• TRO report published 27th March 2023 and approved by officers of GCC
• TRO published 18th May 2023
• Street works began 5th June 2023
• TRO active 10th July 2023
During the period 10 out of 14 Spotlight newsletters carried stories about the Kingsholm Parking Review