‘Council doesn’t listen. We don’t want parking scheme for residents’
CAMPAIGNERS SET TO FIGHT FRESH PLANS ‘TO STOP COMMUTERS USING STREETS’
CAMPAIGNERS are fighting a fresh attempt to bring in a residents’ parking scheme in part of Leicester.
Residents have twice been offered a local referendum on whether they wanted a permit parking regime on the streets of Clarendon Park and twice rejected the idea.
Now, however, Leicester City Council intends to revisit the idea which it says will help solve the problem of commuters clogging up the streets around Queen’s Road by leaving their cars there before heading into work in the city centre.
Opponents of residents’ parking say charging residents to park on the streets outside their home will generate cash for the council without actually solving the parking problems.
A city council spokesman said: “Ward councillors in the area have asked us to look at ways to tackle commuter parking, and we are looking at introducing a restriction on non-residents’ parking there between 9.30am and 10.30am on weekdays.
“This would stop commuters from outside the area using the streets to park for free all day, but would have less impact on businesses than a full residents’ parking scheme.
“It would be an experimental scheme, allowing us to adjust it to meet local needs, or stopping it altogether if residents felt it wasn’t working.
“We are in discussions with local ward councillors and businesses about how such a scheme would work, but would hope to implement it in early 2021.”
Clarendon Park resident Daniel Quelch led the campaigns against residents’ parking on the previous two times there was an effort to introduce it.
He said: “The council asked people to vote on this one. The people said no.
“They asked again four-and-a-half years ago. The people said no again – 76 per cent of them.
“Here comes the council again. “It just doesn’t listen.
“If it introduces permit parking it will hammer businesses but fill its own pockets.”
He added: “It can’t actually see what the real problem is, which is at night when residents return from work and there are not enough spaces for their cars.
“Bringing in charges won’t increase the space available for the cars.
“Also the argument about commuters doesn’t stack up when there are fewer and fewer people coming into the city to work because of Covid.”
Mr Quelch said he was considering complaining about the council to the Local Government Ombudsmen.