Parking misery as streets get yellow lines

Published on 1st November 2007 in News

Residents and workers in Goole have been driven round the bend, thanks to yellow lines that have been put on large stretches of the side streets off Boothferry Road.

Double yellow lines have been put on Cross Street West, which runs from Carter Street through to Newport Street, taking at least 15 car parking spaces. One resident from Carter Street said: "I am angry that they have put yellow lines on those spaces.

"I can't get parked anywhere near my house now, especially when football is on at the Victoria Pleasure Grounds or when people are parking down here to go shopping. If the council are going to take valuable space away from us they should consider making it resident only parking.

"It's not fair that we can't even get parked on our own street."

The restrictions were brought in after a consultation by the East Riding of Yorkshire Council two years ago showed that the balance of opinion was against a controlled parking zone (CPZ). Such a zone would have involved a residents' parking permits scheme being introduced.

It was therefore decided that parking restrictions would be put in place in a bid to make shopping easier. However, it was understood that this would only apply to the Boothferry Road end of the streets, close to the shops.

Another resident said: "It's all right making it easier for shoppers, but what about the people that live on these streets? There isn't enough room for us to park and shoppers are still parking down these streets."

A spokesperson for East Riding Council said: "Consultants carried out a review of parking conditions in Goole in September, 2005 and found that, in overall terms, the centre has more parking supply than demand. There were some streets where capacity was very limited, with less than 10 per cent spare capacity for two or more continuous hours, some of which were in predominantly residential locations including First to Fifth Avenue off Pasture Road and Jefferson Street, Gordon Street and Montague Street off Boothferry Road."

Two thousand consultation leaflets were distributed to households and businesses in the area in April, 2006. The East Riding spokesperson added: "The leaflet explained that as there were no restrictions in Goole that gave any priority to residents, commuters and visitors were able to park all day outside some people's homes.

"Residents who return to their homes in the day may then find difficulty finding a place to park outside or near their homes. Additionally, congestion can occur in residential streets and this could be made worse by motorists travelling up and down resdiential streets looking for a place to park their car.

"It was clear [from the responses to the leaflets] that vehicle movements could be improved at many of the junctions and sensitive locations and that appropriate sections of roads in and near shopping areas of Boothferry Road and Pasture Road be made subject to short-term limited waiting to encourage a turnover in spaces to assist local retailers."