Plans to introduce double-yellow lines on numerous short sections of residential roads in the Bakers Ground and Kings Drive area of Stoke Gifford were the subject of a public consultation during August.
South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) says the purpose of the proposed scheme is to address “obstructive and inconsiderate” parking on eleven specified roads, namely:
- Adelante Close
- Bakers Ground
- County Way
- Halls Garden
- Kings Drive
- Manor Place
- Newbrick Road
- Riviera Way
- Simmonds View
- Star Avenue
- Voyager Close
Comments left on the Stoke Gifford Journal’s Facebook page (see below) suggest that much of the inconsiderate parking is caused by users of the nearby Bristol Parkway Station who are reluctant to pay to park at the station or in the council-run ‘park & ride’ car park on Hunts Ground Road.
The Journal has also heard that bus passengers who catch the M1 MetroBus and T1 services from the stop at Great Stoke Way may also be contributing to the parking issues.
The consultation, which finished on 30th August, is designated as being ‘phase 4A’ of an area-wide waiting restriction review (covering the whole Stoke Gifford district ward) that began back in 2011.
Comments on the Stoke Gifford Journal Facebook page
KW: There is definitely an issue by the park in Bakers Ground with people blocking the dropped kerbs so it’s really hard to get a pushchair to the park.
RvC: This is a commuter parking issue caused by the station. Easily solved if station parking was free with a valid ticket.
AW-J: Bakers Ground is becoming dangerous with people parking and walking to the station to avoid paying for parking. Good move!
PD: Excellent. One of the Kings Drive proposals will mean we can actually get off our driveway without having an inconsiderate tenant blocking our exit. Long overdue! Glad the council seem to have listened to recent complaints.
KP: There are far too many double-yellow lines already, that’s why there’s a parking problem on Bakers Ground. The council should remove some of the existing ones and make the park & ride cheaper – all this does is make it harder for everyone to park.
• Read the full set of more than 40 comments
The types of restrictions introduced as a result of previous phases of the review have included ‘no waiting at any time’ (double-yellow lines), ‘no waiting 8am-9am and 3pm-4pm’, ‘no waiting Mon-Fri 10am-4pm, except permit holders’ and ‘limited waiting of 30mins Mon-Fri 1pm-2pm’.
Phase 1 (consulted on in 2011) resulted in the full range of measures being implemented across a wide area stretching from New Road and Sandringham Road in the west to Hunts Ground Road and Trevelyan Walk in the east.
Phase 2 (consulted on in 2013) added further roads close to Parkway Station (and revisited some that already had restrictions) plus Gifford Crescent and Lawford Avenue in Little Stoke.
Phase 2A (sometimes referred to as Phase 3; consulted upon in 2014 and again in 2015) resulted in further restrictions in Beaufort Crescent and New Road.
The ‘statement of reasons’ accompanying the most recent consultation explained that, in view of the large size of the ward, it had been decided to split the current review into three phases: 4A, 4B and 4C.
In response to an enquiry from the Journal, an SGC spokesperson explained that the proposed waiting restrictions within the phase 4A review had been included following requests received (over a period of time) by residents/ members of public with the support of local ward members. Any roads within phase 4A area that do not have any proposals is because no requests have been submitted to include waiting restrictions.
The spokesperson added that there is still time to consider and investigate sites within the additional phases (4B and 4C) should residents/members of public wish to submit a request.
The spokesperson was unable to say when the consultation feedback report for phase 4A will be published, adding that “it could take some time depending on the number of responses we receive”. Likewise, dates for phases 4B and 4C of the review are not currently known.
Asked if the council has allocated extra resources to properly enforce the ever-increasing number of waiting restrictions in the area, the spokesperson said:
“Our enforcement team will be informed of all new restrictions that are implemented on the public highway. To report a vehicle that is illegally parked on existing restrictions, please email parklegally@southglos.gov.uk or telephone 01454 868000, so that they can arrange for a Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO) to attend site and enforce the offending vehicle.”
Last year, the Journal reported that the Co-operative store in North Road had introduced a parking time limit to combat commuter parking and the nearby Beaufort Arms has recently followed suit.
Asked to comment on the view expressed by some of our readers that introducing ever more parking restrictions only displaces commuter parking into adjoining areas and that the issue can only be properly solved by reducing the cost of parking at Parkway Station, the spokesperson said:
“The cost of parking charges at Parkway Station is not within the scope of this review. Any comments or suggestions of this nature would need to be directed to First Group who manage Parkway Station.”
This article originally appeared in the September 2019 issue of the Stoke Gifford Journal magazine (on pages 12 & 13). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to over 5,000 homes in Stoke Gifford, Little Stoke and Harry Stoke. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.
