Parking problems

2:00pm Wednesday 23rd July 2008

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There are twice as many residents' parking permits as residents' parking spaces in Abingdon.

Only half the number of Abingdon residents who pay £100 a year for an on-street parking space are guaranteed a bay, creating a "totally impossible" situation.

A total of 102 permits have been issued in the town, but there are just 52 spaces designated for their use. This does not include temporary visitor permits.

There are 75 pay-and-display spaces in the town centre, which those with permits are entitled to use. But residents complain that these are always filled by motorists without permits.

Hector Mackenzie, 50, has been part of the residents' parking scheme in West St Helen Street for the past four years. He said: "It's totally impossible. If you get back after six or seven o'clock in the evening, you never get a space.

"It's incredibly annoying really. One night I was forced to park my car in a car park and I forgot to move it before first thing in the morning and I got fined £50. I pay £100 a year. You would have thought they would have some flexibility in the car parks when the on-street spaces are full."

Liz Lafon, 57, who is also part of the scheme, said: "If we can't get a space then we have to go further down to the river. It's really unfortunate, especially when Oxford residents moan about paying £50 a year.

"It often doesn't happen that you park outside your own house."

There have always been more permits issued than designated spaces, but the situation has been getting worse of late.

Parking spaces were taken out from Bridge Street following the installation of traffic lights as part of the Abits traffic scheme. Further spaces along the road will be lost once the Old Gaol re-development begins. There are also five parking bays out of use in West St Helen Street because of the Co-op reconstruction.

Lesley Legge, leader of the town council, said: "There has been an increasing pressure on the system. It has been suffering with a lack of the number of spaces for the past decade."

When Oxfordshire County Council was consulting on the Abingdon Integrated Traffic Strategy in 2004, it did look at bringing in new car parking spaces. But the idea was not pursued because of worries over funding. The town council is now hoping to meet with the county council to look again at this idea.

Town councillor Julie Mayhew-Archer said: "This has been a problem for some months now and it urgently needs addressing. We asked the county council more than three years ago to increase the parking spaces.

"It is £100 a year for residents' parking, which is the most in Oxfordshire. People are happy to do that if they can come home and park, but they are not happy that they cannot do this."

The town council has suggested to the county council that parking restrictions are temporarily removed from St Helen's Court and Lombard Street, where there are single and double yellow restrictions.

County council transport planner Cathy Browning said: "There are some difficulties, however it is desirable for us to create more bays and we want to concentrate on finding ways to deliver that."