Cllr Healy Looks To Consult With Residents Over Parking Issues

Councillor Denis Healy has launched a consultation with people living on the site of the former Westwood Hospital.

The consultation has come about after some local residents contacted him calling for a Controlled Parking Zone to stop members of the public from parking outside their houses and restricting access for residents.

Councillor Healy said:

“Parking is one of the most sensitive issues in town. Residential streets are increasingly being used by visitors to the town looking for somewhere to park, and this often causes frustration for local residents who are unable to park near to their own properties.”

“However, there are two sides to every argument, and although some residents want to see controlled parking restrictions, others don’t support the idea of yellow lines, parking bays, and paid for parking permits.”

“The residents of Westwood Way and the adjoining streets were consulted in 2014 to obtain their views as to whether they would be in support of parking restrictions in the area. Overall there was no consensus to introduce any form of restrictions as a large proportion of residents were against any restrictions being introduced. However, some people think that much has changed since then with more cars, new outlying developments, and more visitors to the town.”

“I therefore decided to conduct my own residents’ consultation and I have written to every household on the development asking them to let me have their opinions on whether or not they would like to see a Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ), which would effectively extend the existing CPZ on Pasture Terrace to include the Westwood Way and Juniper Chase area.”

“I am already receiving lots of responses, and my initial impression is that opinion is fairly evenly split between those in favour of a CPZ and those against. So whatever, the final outcome, it’s clear that not everyone is going to be satisfied.”

“In the longer term, the Council needs to be finding solutions that will restrict the influx of cars into the town. The proposed Park & Ride may well be a small part of the solution, but the Council needs to be more imaginative, particularly in relation to better public transport solutions which will encourage visitors to leave their cars at home.”

“Suburban bus services from the outlying villages and new developments,and decent train services can all play their part in encouraging people to find better options than clogging the streets with cars. It seems to have come as a surprise to the Council that the people living in the 3000 new houses they are building over the next ten years might actually want to visit the town they are living near.”