Concern over changes to parking

CHANGES to residents' only parking in North East Lincolnshire will isolate members of the community, a councillor has warned.

Andrew De Freitas (Lib Dem, Park) claims that the council's proposal to remove the one-hour unrestricted parking from permit-only zones will discourage people from visiting their relatives.

And he has expressed concern that most of the residents in his ward – including those who have already paid £80 for a permit – have not been informed of the change, although the council says it was clearly detailed in consultation letters sent out earlier in the year when the parking shake-up first came into the spotlight.

As it stands, the only area where residents agreed to adopt the new terms and conditions is College Street.

Other areas with permit-only parking, where residents did not agree to the changes, but were able to still buy a permit for the increased price of £80, are now being consulted on further to see if they want to adopt the new scheme.

It includes the removal of the one-hour allowance, meaning permit holders would have to give visitors a ticket, which can be bought in books of eight costing £16, to enable them to park on their street.

And residents, who still feel aggrieved that the price of an annual permit has jumped from £15 to £80, worry that the changes could cost them a "small fortune".

Patrick Wilkinson, 81, of St Olafs Grove, off Wellowgate, bought a new £80 permit in June under the original terms and conditions.

He said: "I'm 81 years old and I look forward to my immediate family coming round and the one-hour is just handy.

"There's about eight or nine people a week come down to see me and if they remove the one-hour the only way they can get parked is if I buy one of these books of tickets for £16. I wouldn't mind that so much but you can't take it for the full day and use it for somebody else. Some days I get three different members of family coming round. If I have to give them a ticket each that will cost me £6 and I can't afford it."

Ade Allenby, 39, of Manor Avenue, whose residents are currently being consulted, said: "If five people in a week come to visit me that's £10. You will end up with a situation where it could either cost a small fortune or you would have to say to people 'I'm sorry, you can't come round, I can't afford it'."

Councillor De Freitas said: "It is unbelievable. It is going to isolate parts of the community. It will discourage people's relations from visiting them."

Jason Longhurst, head of development at North East Lincolnshire Council, said: "The new policy does not include one hour free parking for any vehicle. It was changed as a result of concerns raised by residents expressing a preference to have a resident-only scheme, as they were still struggling to park when one hour limited waiting was permitted under the old scheme. This approach balances access and priority to residents at their request and was widely reported through discussions at scrutiny and cabinet processes prior to the new scheme's adoption.

"The books of tickets were introduced to allow the visitors of residents who are eligible to park in the schemes to buy a number of day tickets. Unfortunately we cannot cater for all different lengths of time that visitors should wish to stay, and one ticket is valid for a day. The day tickets offer excellent value for money and is much cheaper than having to pay and display for a day."

The latest consultation period ends on September 6.