On 5 November 2014, Brenda Bowles, Engineer Traffic Management for Darlington Borough Council emailed Stephanie and me to say,
"I have been passed your enquiries regards introducing extra resident parking bays in South Terrace.
We do already have this request on our list of requests. I am pleased to inform you that we are about to investigate all the requests we hold for extra resident bays in the Borough so we should be consulting every resident with a proposal by January. It is anticipated that any proposed new resident bays will be installed by Spring 2015.
The existing double yellow lines had to be re-instated following the work done by the developer, so that the lines comply with the traffic order. It is likely that some of these yellow lines could be removed to provide some extra resident bays. If these yellow lines had not been replaced cars would have parked across the dropped kerbs".
It is essential that South Terrace views are now heard and recorded by Darlington Borough Council.
Of course, we have the advantage of having already held our own South Terrace Residents consultation over the last 22 months. For your convenience, and that of the Parking Policy Officer at Darlington Council, I have copied a potted history of our consultations at the foot of this blog. This, however, is where we have reached -
The apparent consensus:
- The 25 South Terrace households and 8 cottage residents insist that their views should be paramount when formulating parking arrangements here in South Terrace.
- We have very limited parking here, making South Terrace a special case. South Terrace should be excluded from wider policy considerations relating to the town's provision for free on-street parking.
- We currently have 30 spaces for 33 homes.
- Four new spaces can and should be created by adjusting the yellow line restrictions. They are: one free space at the south east end of the terrace (opposite nos 6&7) and three permit spaces at the south west side (opposite 8&9).
- The justification for the above is that the pavement profiles have already been adjusted by the council to facilitate this.
- This would increase total provision on the terrace to 34 spaces.
- There are currently 19 spaces designated for residents with permits. This is insufficient.
- 7 'free spaces' in the centre of the terrace should be reduced to 4, thus providing a further 3 permit spaces.
- The net effect would be:
- 30 current spaces increased to 34;
- 19 residents spaces increased to 25;
- 11 'free spaces' reduced to 9 (5 opposite nos 1-7), 4 centre terrace.
Effect of consensus:
Residents would have parking priority.
There would be 6 more spaces for permit holders.
There would be 9 'free spaces' available for visitors.
Three new spaces for residents opposite nos 8-10
One new space opposite nos 6 & 7
___________________________________
Potted history of the debate about parking here at South Terrace has progressed collaboratively.
"We have a limited number of 'free spaces' that
seem to be taken quickly each morning by non-residents who work in the town
centre. Some apparently arrive and wait for a resident to leave so that they
can park... I recognise that this comes at a price to residents,
especially those expecting workmen or other visitors. I would like your
suggestions as to how (if at all) this matter should be handled? Feel free to
leave a comment at the foot of this posting if you have a view on the matter".
On 22 February 2013 we followed this up with our report on parking. We recorded that we had "30 parking spaces, of which 19 require permits - 5 at the bottom of the terrace, 6 in the
middle and 8 at the top. This left 4 free spaces at the bottom right of the
terrace and 7 in the middle section".
By 1 March 2013 we were able to put forward your suggestions.
"Most residents agree that the yellow lines
opposite nos 9-10 should, if possible, be reduced to give another two parking
spaces.... If shortening the yellow lines is
possible, another two residents' bays could appear overnight.
"It
also seems to be agreed that the double yellow lines opposite nos 1-7 could be
reduced to give the possibility of an extra space on the right side of the
terrace..."
"Most
residents seem to want to keep some 'free spaces' on the terrace. Their argument
is that if all of the spaces are allocate or restricted to 'permit only' -
family, friends and other visitors will be unable to park here at all. They are
right, and it seems imperative that we retain some unallocated parking.
The
question is - how many spaces should be for permits, and how many 'free'? The
majority of you seem to think that the seven spaces in the centre of the
terrace could be reduced to four; and all 4 of the spaces opposite nos 1-7
could be made permit only.
The
net effect of this would be to increase the permit spaces to 26, leaving 4
'free' spaces in the centre of the terrace. If the yellow lines were decreased,
the permit spaces would increase to 28. Bearing in mind that there are 25
households on the terrace and a further 8 at Pease Cottages, this would be
about right".
Our
next blog was on 16 July 2013 where we reported your two main concerns - that there were insufficient residents spaces for the number of
permits issued; and 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.
"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".
"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 ..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".
On 23 September 2014 representatives from nos 6 and 8 South Terrace attended
the council's parking consultation to pass on your concerns.
We informed the council that the principal issues were that commuters enter the terrace after
8.00 am and stay until 5.30 pm for free parking. This puts pressure on the
residents bays, and eliminates any chance of our visitors and tradespeople
parking on the terrace. We said that we want more residents' spaces and better control over non-residents spaces.
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