AN update on the parking schemes in Weymouth Road and Trinity areas was given at a meeting of Frome Town Council meeting on Wednesday 16th November.
Somerset County Council’s parking services manager, Steve Deakin, attended to explain the next steps in the scheme and to address questions from residents who attended the meeting. Since the introduction of a residents’ permit scheme by Somerset County Council in Weymouth Road, which came into effect following complaints from some residents that the road was unsafe due to the volume of parked cars on both sides of the road, some members of the community have raised concerns that the permit scheme has displaced parking issues onto the surrounding streets.
Speaking at the meeting one resident said, “Whatever you do in Weymouth Road will have a negative displacement effect on everywhere else around. The wider needs of the local community and the town have been ignored.”
One resident from Weymouth Road who is in favour of the scheme and feels it has had a positive impact on the street said, “I am a resident and I am delighted with the parking scheme.”
Residents in the Trinity area have also recently been consulted on a similar scheme by Somerset County Council. It was also raised that extra cars are now parking on Somerset Road as a result of the Weymouth Road scheme.
Steve Deakin said, “The situation that is being described in Somerset Road now is exactly the situation in Weymouth Road before the scheme came in.”
At the meeting Steve Deakin confirmed that the Weymouth Road scheme was introduced on ‘an experimental basis.’
He explained, “The experimental order is for a maximum of 18 months. At the end of 18 months, once any objections and comments have been considered, the order either ends or is made permanent. We are planning to do that within the first six months because that is the ideal. The review area will be at least the original consultation area and not just residents of Weymouth Road.”
Steve Deakin, pictured, explained that he would be reviewing the results on this consultation with a view to finding a solution for both areas.
He said, “I will review all of the responses to the Trinity area consultation and have an idea of what the residents are telling me. I will then undertake a review of the impact of the Weymouth Road and the experimental Traffic Order with at least the residents in the original consultation area.
“The outcome of those two reviews will hopefully identify the way forward for the Weymouth Road area, plus maybe some others, and the Trinity Road area. There will be a solution. I promise you that, I will do whatever I can to find a compromise.”
