Stratford’s on-street parking rules set for an overhaul
By Andy Mitchell,
Local Democracy Reporter
TWO councils are discussing the prospect of alleviating parking pressures in Stratford by offering residents spots in town centre car parks.
A Warwickshire County Council report detailing plans to tackle rising demand for on-street spaces revealed talks with Stratford District Council are taking place in relation to town centre parking permit holders having the additional option.
It is part of an ongoing assessment by the county – the authority in charge of highways and who can park on them – which has led to changes that are due to be rubber-stamped by Cllr Jan Matecki (Con, Budbrooke & Bishop’s Tachbrook), who oversees transport and planning at the county council, tomorrow (Friday).
Eleven parking spaces on Mulberry Street and Shakespeare Street, currently only available to S2 permit holders from 6pm to 8am, will become available to those with permits or pay-and-display users in the day in a bid to meet demand.
Pay and display availability in the S4 zone, which covers Payton Street, John Street and Tyler Street, is set to cease at 6pm instead of 10pm to allow residents to park near to homes more freely, while eligibility for S3 parking permits to the north of the town centre will be extended to people living on St Gregory’s Road.
The county had planned to merge the S2 and S4 zones, but a public consultation that was responded to by 80 residents left people split down the middle. The chief concern was that the added flexibility for holders of permits for S2, where there are already pinch points, would extend the same problem to the S4 area.
That change is not completely off the table but county highways professionals have decided to hold off and see whether the daytime availability of the 11 extra spots in S2 will have the desired effect.
Another option put forward by a respondent was to allow S2 and S3 permit holders to use town centre car parks such as Bridgeway multi-storey car park as part of their annual subscription.
The complication with that is that off-street parking is the domain of Stratford District Council but county highways officer Phil Mitton said in his report that “discussions are ongoing between representatives of both county and district councils as to whether this is a feasible and practical means of reducing demand for on-street parking places”.
It had also been suggested that pay-and-display parking should not be available on Stratford’s roads, something that Mr Mitton rejected.
“On-street parking provision is intended to provide a balance between the needs of varying different road users, including residents and visitors to the area,” he wrote.
“Because of the proximity to the town centre, pay-and-display parking provides a useful short-term facility for visitors to the area. Its removal would likely prompt further objection from this set of road users and nearby businesses. The maximum stay period for pay and display prevents the area from being used for all-day commuter parking and promotes turnover of parking.
“While it is acknowledged that the area is well used by visitors, the proposals already include provision of permit holder only parking across the current S2 and S4 zones overnight, taking into account the additional demand for spaces when residential parking is at its peak.
