Lack of parking sees resident sell up from town centre home
RESIDENTS living on one of Wokingham’s most central roads are relocating as the struggle to find residential parking has left the locals feeling “prosecuted”.
More than 70 resident parking permits are issued every year to Rose Street occupants, yet the street offers only 20 parking bays and three for blue badge holders.
One resident, who would like to remain anonymous, told The Wokingham Paper that the lack of parking spaces has forced occupants to “park everywhere including in the [Wokingham Methodist] church car park”.
Parking here means residents have to pay £2 for 2 hours of parking for a space which is “approximately a six-minute walk just to get to my house.” This payment is on top of the £30 residents pay per car for an annual parking permit.
The resident said: “The traffic wardens are just horrible and always waiting to give me a ticket even when I park in the 30-minute parking area”.
The resident in question said she and her family are moving to a different road in Wokingham simply because of the parking, as are many people on her road. According to online property website Zoopla.com, 20 properties on Rose Street have been sold over the last five years.
This occupant and her husband wrote to MP Sir John Redwood in May 2018 on the issue: “When we return home late in the evenings or early mornings if [the parking bays] are full, we have to resort to using other bays because there isn’t enough parking. We have both received extensive parking tickets as a result of not parking on resident bays, we have been parking in front of our house as there is no alternative of where to park.
“We think it’s unfair to be charged for this due to the ongoing building work in the town centre.
“We have been threatened with court action for parking outside of our house. We would appreciate your comment on this, as this is grossly unfair. We feel we are being prosecuted for living in Wokingham Town Centre.”
Sir John responded, stating that as MP he had no power over the parking, but he would try to bring it up with the council, as only it can make allowances to parking while Wokingham is under regeneration.
Executive member for Highways and Transport Cllr Pauline Jorgensen said: “We’re aware of residents’ concerns. We recently consulted Rose Street residents in relation to on-street parking and have listened to their views.
“As a result we are now in the process of changing some of the bays previously allocated for limited waiting (up to 30 minutes) to shared use so that those residents with a parking permit will also be able to use these bays too. This will mean that the number of bays residents can use will increase from five to eight.
“Unfortunately the number of residents wanting to park their car near their property often exceeds the amount of off-street parking spaces available. This is the case in many places around the country, not just in Wokingham. When residents apply for a permit, we do make it very clear we cannot guarantee a parking space.
“Wokingham Borough Council continues to listen to its residents with further changes currently being made to the parking permit system which will allow residents to apply online for either a paper version permit or an electronic permit that can be updated instantly online.”