Residents’ parking in Willow Close, Canterbury

The council has been asked to look at changes in Willow Close because some residents are finding that the number of non-residents parking in the road is making it difficult to find a parking space.

In order to implement residents’ parking, the roads would be marked out with as many parking bays as can be accommodated, taking into account road safety, the need to maintain the free flow of traffic and the need to protect access to driveways.

In between the parking bays there are normally yellow lines because these are places where it is not appropriate to park. The plan attached to the letter that residents in this road received shows where we would be able to mark out parking bays.

Residents would need to buy a permit to park in the bays during the day and non-permit holders would only be able to park for four hours. The restrictions would apply between 8 am and 6 pm, Monday to Friday.

Permits currently cost £63 per year and residents would be able to buy one permit per household. It may be possible to issue more permits later, but there is no guarantee further permits would be available.

Residents would also be able to buy visitor permits for visitors or tradesmen which would allow them to park for up to 24 hours at a cost of £5.

Willow Close would be added to the St Stephen’s residents’ parking zone. That means that permit holders from Willow Close would be able to park in parking bays anywhere in the St Stephen’s zone without a time limit. Similarly, all permit holders from the St Stephen’s zone would be able to park in Willow Close without a time limit.

The proposed changes will not be implemented unless a significant proportion of Willow Close residents are in favour of the change. If the results show a high enough level of support we will then have to go through the legal process of making the necessary legal changes to the parking restrictions.

Consultation

The consultation on this proposal ended on Friday 4 November.

Published: 11 October 2022