Decision details

The Chairman invited the lead petitioner of a petition relating to the findings of the Overview and Scrutiny Parking Task and Finish Group) to present the petition. 

Sharon Griffin, on behalf of the 43 signatories to the petition, addressed Members.  She said the petition asked that the findings of the Parking Task and Finish Group be implemented with regard to the Resident Parking Scheme (RPZ).  Residents of the affected areas, that is, Woodlands and The Copse in Bishop’s Stortford, suffered a significant problem with parking by users of Stansted Airport.  Most houses in those streets had a drive and therefore the Residents’ Parking Zone policy did not currently provide residents with a remedy.  At any given time there were 10 to 15 non-residents’ cars parked in their roads.  Residents did not want yellow lines.  She implored Members to help address this problem.

Councillor McAndrew thanked Mrs Griffin and the 43 residents of Woodlands and The Copse, Bishop’s Stortford for their petition.

He said the Parking Task and Finish Group had considered the operational issues for residents, businesses and visitors of the district’s towns in terms of parking.  The findings of the Task and Finish Group had been considered by the Executive on 11 February 2020. 

There were a number of improvements to consider in the context of budgets, officer resources and the corporate plan including the aim to move towards a more sustainable district.

Delivery of the recommendations of the Task and Finish group in relation to RPZs would require funding and officer resources.  The Executive had asked the Head of Operations, acting in discussion with the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the Chairman of the parking task and finish group and himself as the portfolio holder for environmental sustainability, to assess the full viability of the recommendations to inform a future decision.  The outcome of this assessment would be brought to the next meeting of the Executive on 21April 2020.

Mrs Griffin thanked Councillor McAndrew and presented the petition to him.