Residents back tougher parking permit rules outside their homes

Parking restrictions across Caerphilly County Borough could be extended to give more protection to resident permit holders.

Any changes could end up spreading council enforcement officers “more thinly”, however.

Some 71 per cent of people who took part in a public consultation on the council’s parking policy said it failed to meet their needs.

Caerphilly’s residents’ parking policy currently prevents non-permit holders from parking in target areas between – as a maximum – the hours of 8am and 6pm, Monday to Saturday.

This now looks likely to be extended to 8pm on those days, according to a report of a council task and finish group set up to review the policy.

Several residents who took part in the consultation backed an extension but suggested restrictions should go even further.

One said it was “ridiculous” that parking restrictions “operate when residents are in work”.

“I pay for [a] parking permit but it’s irrelevant, as when I get home from work anyone can park in the street,” they added.

Another consultee said parking in residential areas “should be 24/7 as the biggest parking problem is at evenings and weekends”.

Any changes could have drawbacks, too – a senior council officer has warned the extension could end up impacting the local authority’s parking enforcement operations.

Dean Smith, the council’s principal engineer for traffic management, said at a meeting of the task and finish group that “extending the operating hours risked diverting enforcement resources from the working day when roads were busier”.

The group of councillors was also told “a thin resource would be spread more thinly if times of operation were extended”.

According to the report, Cllr Adrian Hussey, chairing the group, noted Newport City Council’s policy already included 8am-8pm restrictions in some areas.

But Mr Smith told him those hours “might be appropriate in cities where demand was greater in the evenings because of sporting events for example”.

Despite the warnings, Caerphilly Council’s housing and environment scrutiny committee is expected to recommend the extended parking policy hours to the cabinet at a meeting on Tuesday April 30.