'Scrooge' council blasted as Cheltenham residents face Christmas Day parking fines

A council in Gloucestershire has been compared to Ebenezer Scrooge for not granting residents a break from “extremely” unpopular parking restrictions in Cheltenham this Christmas. People who live in zone 15 in the north east of the spa town were given a one-off exemption last Christmas by Gloucestershire County Council.

This was done as a goodwill gesture due to the terrible rollout of the residential parking permit scheme. It was so bad Shire Hall leaders at the time issued a sincere apology to residents.

More than 2,500 people signed a petition calling for the zone to either be scrapped or fixed last year. And residents asked at the full council meeting earlier this month if the County Council would continue to offer a Christmas break for zone 15.

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Ian Weaving, who asked the question, said: “With many elderly feeling isolated with the introduction of the scheme the break was gratefully received last year.” However highways cabinet member Dom Morris (C, Fairford and Lechlade) said there would not be a break this year.

“The council offered a Christmas break in December 2023 to support residents with the introduction of the scheme,” he said. “There are no plans to offer this to zone 15, or any other Gloucestershire residents in 2024.”

After the meeting, Mr Weaving compared the county council to Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol protagonist, the cold-hearted miser Ebenezeer Scrooge. "I've put a post on Facebook calling [the council] Bah Humbug," he said.

"Gloucestershire County Council has refused to give us a break for Christmas this year. So you can expect parking enforcement on Christmas Day.

"It appears that in this case a due regard impact assessment has either not been conducted or has not been sufficiently considered. Without this there is no clear evidence or documentation that demonstrates how potential impacts on the elderly or disabled and other groups.

"Many elderly people can not use MI permit and cannot get a paper version. A break at Christmas means they can have visitors, who can park outside, with no permit.

“I personally think it's disgraceful at Christmas. A break at Christmas means a lot to elderly residents."

A Gloucestershire County Council spokesperson said a break is not something they offer other residents living in parking permit areas. They said last year it was done as a goodwill gesture due to the issues with the scheme’s rollout.

“Residents living in zone 15 were given special one-off exemptions last Christmas due to the issues we encountered implementing the scheme as a goodwill gesture," a spokesperson said.

"This isn’t something we offer other residents living in permit areas and it would be unfair to other areas to continue with this approach year on year. We are currently analysing feedback from the engagement process that was carried out to create final proposal plans, so we can provide an improved scheme that meets the needs of the majority of residents.”