Plans to make most of two Ruddington village centre streets ‘Parking By Permit Holders Only’ during daytime hours have been approved by Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC).
The contentious scheme for Charles Street and Parkyns Street, which RUDDINGTON.info originally reported on last October, was rubber-stamped today (7th March 2019) by NCC’s ‘Communities and Place Committee’ despite 34 objections – including from Ruddington Parish Council.
The original idea came about following a growing number of complaints to the Council from shoppers and traders about the lack of daytime parking spaces in our village centre. Many cited the predominance of unrestricted parking as a magnet for “park ‘n’ riders” who leave their cars here all day whilst catching a bus to the city. When a maximum two hour waiting limit was introduced in more areas a few years ago to try to combat this it just seemed to move the problem on to the unrestricted streets – causing even more misery for residents trying to park near their homes. Many householders and traders favoured a scheme to also allow time-limited daytime visitor parking for two hours on these streets, in addition to all-day parking spaces for permit holders. However, the plans drawn up by Via East Midlands, just approved, do not include that additional provision along the permit-only sections – as it “was not considered an appropriate solution for the parking issues in this area.”
When these restrictions are introduced, the majority of both Charles Street and Parkyns Street will become unavailable for shoppers and other visitors from 8am to 6pm Monday to Saturday, as shown on the map below – with the rest restricted to two hours. The only people who will be allowed to buy a permit to park here will be residents or business owners living or trading within the indicated red boundary:
It seems those within this red zone will be eligible to apply for up to two permits each, at a cost of £25 per permit, per year, which can also be used for their customers.
Amanda Findlay commented: “Although this was expected, it is still devastating news. Our optician practice on Charles Street has many elderly Ruddington villagers as patients. They need to be able to park in the centre of the village both to shop and to visit us. My staff are also affected as only one lives in Ruddington – all others drive to work and park. Obviously time will tell what effect this will have, but I do not think it will be good for the village at all.”
Craig Baum, who lives on the outskirts of Ruddington, added: “Sadly, all I can see this do is actually reduce shoppers parking and in the day have large areas of resident bays empty – as usually Charles Street is the only place I find to park if popping in to grab something from the shops on the way through! The Parish Council will have to make the Co-op car park pay for over 2hrs now to prevent long term parkers relocating and blocking these spaces.”
But Kat Bradley said: “I think it looks like a great idea. People should be able to park outside their houses and their businesses without park and riders exploiting the free parking we have here. Permits are a great way to do that.”
Today’s approved plans also include other, less controversial, parking restrictions for Ruddington’s village centre as shown below:
Mike Ader, Chair of Ruddington Village Centre Partnership, observed: “If we combine the impact of Parkyns Street and Charles Street residents-only parking with the double yellow lines on Vicarage Lane & Shaw Street, plus more allocation for disability parking spaces, there will be a significant reduction in Village Centre parking availability. There is already insufficient parking as we know – this will exacerbate the situation!”
However, village centre resident Sarah Godfrey said: “We don’t expect to get a parking spot even with these restrictions. But we think it makes more sense for us to swap places with the park ‘n’ riders and, in the same motion, free up spaces for those crying out for them – shoppers!” She adds: “There are only 8 parking spots for permits on Charles Street and less so on Parkyns. A large proportion has been allocated for shoppers and visitors.”
In approving the plans, NCC concluded: “It is considered that the proposed scheme presents a reasonable balance between the needs of all highway users, including non-drivers; who live in or visit the area.” You can read more on this >>HERE<<.
UPDATE 25th MAY 2019:
The changes have been introduced this week, with new parking enforcement now in place. It is hoped the permits issued to qualifying residents and business people will mean that the spaces on Charles Street and Parkyns Street remain well used – perhaps even freeing up other unrestricted or two hour parking around our village for shoppers and visitors? Time will tell!
Your comments and feedback about the new parking measures are welcome – either >>HERE<< or via Ruddington’s Facebook page and Twitter feed.
