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Residential permit parking will be reviewed by Caerphilly County Borough Council amid concerns that those paying are unable to find parking spaces.
The council’s environment and sustainability scrutiny committee has this week called for a review of the authority’s parking permit scheme.
Currently residents pay £15 per year for a permit to help them find a parking space near their homes.
But the current policy means parking for permit holders only is in place from 8am to 6pm, and after this time people without a permit can also park in the area.
Some permit areas in the county borough also allow 30-minutes of free parking.
At a scrutiny meeting on Tuesday (October 27), Councillor Tudor Davies said the current scheme is “causing a lot of frustration” for permit holders.
“They pay for a permit to park in their own street,” he said.
“On many occasions they can’t park there because we’ve got 30-minutes of free parking.
“If you are paying for a permit you should have the right to park in your own street.”
Cllr Adrian Hussey said the council should consider extending the time for permit parking only to 8pm, which is the policy in place in Newport, as people currently struggle to find a space in the evening.
“I’m sure residents would welcome this in their street and would even pay a bit more if they were guaranteed they would be able to park in those hours,” he said.
Cllr Bob Owen said the authority should consider removing free parking in permit areas which are over subscribed.
Clive Campbell, transportation engineering manager at the council, said the council looks for “the best compromise” for residents and visitors.
“What might benefit one group of people could disadvantage another,” he said.
Mr Campbell said the 30-minutes of free parking may benefit businesses and visitors in some areas.
He also said the council’s current policy of allowing parking for permit holders only until 6pm can be reviewed.
Charges for residential parking permits were introduced in April 2019, with 1,655 issued across the borough last year.
Of these, 736 were issued in Caerphilly, 354 in Bargoed, 276 in Ystrad Mynach, 203 in Blackwood, 40 in Newbridge, 31 in Pontymister, 11 in Abercarn and four in Rhymney.
The committee recommended that the issue is considered in a car parking review report coming before the council in December.
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I really hope that something will be done to help residents, as opposed to businesses all the time, because where I live really close to businesses and takeaways in Ystrad Mynach, it is an absolute stressful nightmare parking at ANY time of the day, even in a Sumday and then there is no guarantee of being able to park legally on a Monday morning because there are so many people not moving their cars because of this situation. I have neighbours who park THREE cars on TWO permits and are getting away with it EVERY day! There are also people working nearby who are using Vistor’s permits to come to work and are not lea ing until late in the afternoons. This would NOT be acceptable even if we were not paying for a permit! I am afraid to take the car out and have often struggled with heavy shopping bags from Tesco because of this awful, awful situation.
Residents’ parking only and a more visible and frequent traffic enforcement team is needed, in valleys towns where people are unfortunate enough to live near businesses.