Talks continue over parking

Swindon Council had planned to introduce ‘no waiting at any time’ restrictions in Redhouse Way along the north side of the road, and part of the south.

But local councillors and residents believe this would only add to the problem and lead to congested side roads.

At a meeting of the North Locality last week, a number of suggestions were put forward to help ease the problem and Coun Vera Tomlinson (Con, Abbey Meads) has now managed to get a three-month suspension on the parking restrictions that the council wanted to implement so she and fellow councillor Peter Heaton-Jones have more time to consult with the public on other alternatives.

They are to hold a meeting with highways officers today and hope to hold a public consultation later this month for residents to make suggestions.

Coun Tomlinson said: “It is a real problem. It is, in my opinion, bad planning but this goes back lots of years and, at that time, the idea was to force people to use public transport and not to have too many cars, but it didn’t work and there are cars, and the roads around there are so narrow that if people park there it will cause big problems.

“I don’t think the parking restrictions they have proposed are going to work.

“If they stop people parking in Redhouse Way they are going to park in the narrow streets behind, they would have nowhere else to go. I can see it causing problems between neighbours.”

Coun Tomlinson suggested introducing parking bays on the wide pavements along the road, with parking at a 45 degree angle.

Coun Heaton-Jones said the public consultation would be the opportunity to gather information from people most affected by any changes implemented.

“My view is we have got to do what the community want us to do,” he said. “It is clear from the meeting that there are people who have got a great number of concerns about the situation.

“Putting parking spaces in would be a long-term solution but it would involve a lot of money.”