Gloucestershire Council apologises over new parking scheme

A council has apologised for the way in which it has introduced a new residents' parking permit scheme.

Locals and businesses in Cheltenham have complained that the new zone 15 scheme has been badly implemented.

Some businesses say their staff are considering getting jobs elsewhere because they cannot find parking.

Gloucestershire County Council now says it will suspend parking fines until 15 December and all issues will be resolved by 1 December.

"From consultation to implementation, it's just been a disaster," said Ian Weaving, who runs a Facebook group containing thousands of disgruntled residents.

"We're asking the council to think again. They need to look at the hours, 8am to 8pm seven days a week - even on Christmas Day - is too extreme.

"We also need them to look at providing facilities for staff to park in the area and even reduce some of the restrictions around Zone 15."

The new parking scheme has affected local businesses, said Peter Badham, managing director of Badham's Pharmacy.

"Patients are parking on double yellow lines and parking in the zone and taking the risk of being fined or prosecuted," he said.

"It is causing distress because a lot of patients come from the hospital. Palliative care patients who are on end-of-life medication are having to park on double yellow lines."

However, Jo Brown, who has lived in the area for 11 years, supports the scheme as she says she can now park outside or near her house.

"Before, because we are so close to town, we used to find that people would come to Dukes Street, park up and then you'd see them walk off into town. It was so frustrating."

However, Resident Stella Hobley feels residents are being "bulldozered".

"I do not believe this has been put in place fairly. There were not enough people consulted," she said.

Councillor Mark Hawthorne, leader of Gloucestershire County Council, said he acknowledged the scheme has been flawed.

"I want to apologise to all the residents within the Zone 15 area. This has not been implemented in the way that we wanted.

"We made a number of mistakes along the way," said Mr Hawthorne, who explained that the failings were caused by a number of issues between the council and the contractor.

The council says it will suspend any of the fines from being issued until after 15 December while the council ensures measures are being implemented correctly.

The scheme will be reviewed in 12 months time once it has been imbedded.

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