Commuters will be pushed into Twerton

Last week, the council announced that it is considering the public responses to a proposed resident parking zone (RPZ) at Oldfield Park.

Stretching from Bear Flat all the way to the Lidl store in Bath, the Oldfield RPZ would be a massive 1.5km in length. Oldfield residents have their reasons for wanting it, but it would undoubtedly have an impact on surrounding communities like Twerton and Moorlands.

For example, the border of the Oldfield RPZ would fall just short of West Twerton. This would push some commuter parkers who usually fill up parking spaces in Oldfield into West Twerton roads and streets instead.

Streets such as Lansdown View, Albany Road and Shophouse Road could see a sharp increase in parking congestion. After all, these Twerton streets are just a 20-minute walk from the Oldfield Park train station if you know your way about. They would be a likely choice for the many commuters who currently park up at Oldfield and then take the train each day.

In addition, students in neighbouring areas would be tempted to park their cars in Twerton.

Around 50 five-bedroom student HMOS sit close to the Lidl store within the bounds of the proposed Oldfield RPZ. If a student living there has a choice between paying £100 for a resident’s parking permit or parking for free around the corner at Albany Road, which do you think they will choose?

If the resulting parking pressures in Twerton streets grow too intense, then the solution may not be as simple as to extend the RPZ further westwards to cover this area too. Many residents

could struggle

to pay the £100 price tag to get a resident’s parking permit. Some of them could be poorer households who draw support from family or friends who visit by car.

These affected Twerton streets come under the Twerton and Southdown wards. So now we watch to see if councillors Dine Romero, Paul Crossley, Tim Ball and Sarah Moore will stick up for local people by challenging the plan.

Joe Scofield

Bath