Residents demand U-turn

LOCAL residents are pressing ahead with their campaign to reverse a decision to introduce parking restrictions on Weymouth Road. 

Residents living on roads surrounding Weymouth Road – a residential road adjacent to Victoria Park – say that they will be ‘negatively impacted’ by the introduction of resident parking permits and on-street parking meters for the road in question. 

They fear that the changes, brought in by Somerset County Council, will force cars to park in nearby streets with no restrictions, causing parking issues elsewhere. They have also previously raised concerns that the parking restrictions will impact visitors to Victoria Park, discouraging them from visiting; and highlighted that residents and businesses of Catherine Street – who have to use the unrestricted parking areas of Weymouth Road due to limited parking on their own street – had not been considered during the consultation process. 

The residents have launched an online petition – which has so far been supported by over 370 people – calling on the county council to withdraw its decision and consider other options. The group is also encouraging other residents who may be affected by the new restrictions to contact them, sign the petition, and join the campaign. 

“The campaign petition has now reached 371 signatures, and has been presented to Somerset County Council,” said a spokesperson for the group. “Their initial response has been to offer some Catherine Street residents permits on Weymouth Road. However, this would only apply to a few longstanding residents and any new residents will be offered nothing. This piece-meal afterthought for a minority of those who will be affected does not offer a fair solution for the town centre parking needs as a whole.” 

And whilst the restrictions have not yet come into force, the installation of parking meters and signage on Weymouth Road about the changes, is already causing confusion and ‘crowding’ on surrounding roads. 

“People assume that the restrictions have gone live, so are already crowding onto the surrounding streets,” said one resident speaking to Frome Times. “Somerset Road is already suffering an increase, and the domino effect will be even worse once the scheme goes live. The apparent reason for introducing the scheme was safety, however the scheme makes surrounding roads unsafe.” 

Another resident said, “The reason for introducing the scheme was given as for safety, however, it seems obvious that a 20mph speed limit, speed bumps and some yellow lines would have addressed this issue. As the majority of residents on Weymouth Road already have off-road parking, it makes no sense to offer them further on-road parking. As well as having a detrimental effect on surrounding roads, it will also restrict access for many park users.” 

Questions have also been raised by the residents about the consultation process that led to the decision by Somerset County Council to introduce the new scheme. 

They say, “Although former councillors have been parroting the statement that a full consultation was carried out, this is not true. The initial parking permit consultation didn’t include park users, nor surrounding roads, including those in the older part of town, closer to the centre.  

“Those roads that were consulted believed that they were being consulted on a parking area [including other surrounding roads such as Somerset Road], which apart from a few residents on Weymouth Road, was overwhelmingly rejected.  

“However, the scheme seems to have been pushed forward and the street furniture has already been installed on Weymouth Road. It was due to start on the 1st April but has currently still not gone live. Again, concerned residents have not been informed, if and when this will happen, as being able to park close-by is vital for many people’s ability to work 

“Double yellow lines have also now been placed along the bottom of Weymouth Road, taking away the last few parking spaces available. This was not even proposed in the council’s original scheme, therefore we believe that they should also be contested and removed.” 

Somerset County Council was approached for comment. 

To sign the petition, visit the website:  https://chng.it /SgJGWQKNjR. Please also email Catherine Street.parking@yahoo.com if you feel you are affected and would be like to support the campaign.