Bridgnorth parking plans ‘will set communities against each other’
Residents have spoken of their strong opposition to parking proposals for Bridgnorth town centre, which they say will "set communities against one another".
People living on St Mary's Street in Bridgnorth have come together to stop new on-street parking proposals, set out by Shropshire Council, from coming into place.
It comes after the council invited residents and businesses to attend drop-in sessions this month, to gather views on the town's parking schemes in an informal consultation.
Under the proposals, parking on St Mary's Street and the neighbouring Listley Street would be combined, which means approximately 51 extra vehicles will be eligible to park on St Mary's Street.
In addition, St Mary's Street residents will be restricted to only one parking permit – instead of two – per household, which people say is not enough.
Shropshire Council say the proposals have come in response to concerns about congestion.
Paul Bates, chairman of St Mary's Residents Association and owner of The Croft Hotel, said: "There's no doubt about it, if it goes ahead we already have a problem with parking and it would exacerbate the problem.
"If you combine the streets it'll make it more difficult to park and we already struggle to park. We are very very concerned and upset about it as we feel the council are gaslighting us. We feel they have already made up their minds."
Mr Bates added that many residents of St Mary's Street do not travel out of town in their cars on Saturdays, in fear they will not be able to park on their return.
Some residents drive round and round the town on weekends before getting a space, Mr Bates said, which increases the risk of car pollution.
Fears have also been raised about the value of residents' homes, as well as concerns that families will have to move out of the town centre.
"We can access Listley Street car park if we pay," Mr Bates added, "but when we are already paying for a permit we think it's a bit much.
"If the council said we can stay on the car park with the permit that would be helpful."
Residents would like a similar set-up to the one in Shrewsbury, in which residents are allowed to park on any one of the additional car parks in town, including St Julian's Friars car park which is the same banding as the Listley Street car parks (North and South).
A statement from the St Mary's Residents Association said: "The residents of St Mary’s Street are very concerned that the council are reducing available parking spaces for residents without providing any suitable alternative parking for displaced vehicles.
"We feel as residents we are being penalised for living in the centre of town. Some people need two cars for work and to provide care.
"Many of our streets’ residents are elderly and some are housebound and we act as a community. This is demonstrated by the opposition to the council’s proposals.
"The majority of our residents have signed a petition that we do not support the council’s proposals. The council are deliberately setting communities against one another and the situation is becoming inflammatory."
The petition has more than 53 signatories from the 105 dwellings on the scheme.
It is residents' hope that the petition will be enough to stop the council from proceeding to a formal consultation which they say is "a waste of the taxpayers' money and time".
A similar residents' association has been formed in East Castle Street.
Richard Marshall, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member with responsibility for parking, said: “In response to concerns about parking congestion we’re giving consideration to the introduction and revision of a number of residents’ on-street preferential parking schemes in Bridgnorth.
“Our parking team and local councillors carried out a review of the residents’ parking schemes in Bridgnorth in an attempt to make improvements to the various schemes currently operating – and we gathered the views of local residents and businesses through our recent first round of consultation.
“The current informal consultation aims to show people the latest proposed changes, and enable them to ask questions and tell us what they think. We thank everyone that has commented so far.
“All comments raised at this stage will be carefully considered, before a further round of consultation is carried out early next year.
“No decisions have yet been made and the final plans are subject to approval by cabinet.”
