Parking on South Terrace: the results of consultation

To park a car with a permit outside your home in South Terrace costs 77 pence per week, or 11 pence per day. 

Many residents were taken aback by the recent increase of the cost of a residents parking permit to £40 per year. But most of us reflected that this is simply a sign of the times we live in.

Since February, I have been consulting with you on parking. Most residents that own a car have shared your thoughts with me, and this has advised the terms of our most recent letter to the council. With 33 households, it would have been surprising if we had reached unanimity, but amazingly we did reach a viable compromise position to indicate a way forward.

Two main concerns were raised:

• that there were insufficient residents spaces for the number of permits issued;
• that we face a large influx of non-residents who choose to park on South Terrace, rather than paying for parking across Victoria Road in the Town Hall or Beaumont Street car parks.

Both issues were inter-connected. Having paid for the privilege of parking, residents said that they should be afforded a space - and the current level of residents' spaces meant that those who paid were in effect subsidising the parking of those who enjoy a resource here without paying for it.

The consensus was that the scheme did bring benefits to the terrace - but that it needed adjusting.

So, here is the letter sent on behalf of the South Terrace Residents group. I will post all replies in the comments section below.

"I am writing to you as President of the South Terrace Residents Group, and co-ordinator of the South Terrace Neighbourhood Watch group. 

Over the past six months, the residents have been engaged in discussions concerning parking in South Terrace. 

Currently there are 30 parking spaces on South Terrace, of which 19 are designated for residents permit parking - 5 at the east end of the terrace, 6 in the middle section, and 8 at the west side. This leaves 4 non-resident spaces on the east side of the terrace, and 7 in the middle section. 

Two issues have been detected. 

1. First, with 24 households and 8 cottages, and a number of households having more than one permit, there are insufficient residents parking spaces for the number of permits issued. Residents who now pay £40.00 per year to park in the vicinity of their home should be entitled to be able to access a parking space.
2. Second, substantial numbers of non-residents attend each morning to take non-resident spaces that have been vacated by residents. These spaces are then occupied for the rest of the working day, to the exclusion of both residents and their visitors.

The South Terrace Residents Group has formulated a solution.

Resident parking designation

Whilst residents want to keep some non-resident spaces on the terrace for non-resident parking, we request that the seven non-resident spaces in the centre of the terrace is reduced to four; and all four of the non-resident spaces opposite nos 1-7 are to be made residents permit only.  

Yellow line restrictions

Residents would wish that the yellow lines on the west side of the terrace opposite nos 9-10 should be reduced, to give another one or two extra parking spaces there, and on the east side of the terrace opposite nos 1-7 to give one extra space there. We are aware of the council's concerns about parking within certain distances of junctions, but the local wisdom is that this should not be a problem here. 

 

The net effect of changes:

• Without yellow line alteration - to increase the permit spaces to 26, leaving 4 non-resident spaces in the centre of the terrace. 
• With yellow line alteration - to increase the permit spaces to 28 or 29, leaving 4 non-resident spaces in the centre of the terrace".