PRESSURE from people living in the Priory Road area of Huntingdon for a residents parking scheme appears to have back-fired. Angered by the number of workers and shoppers parking near their homes, they wanted to restrict the on-street space to those livi

PRESSURE from people living in the Priory Road area of Huntingdon for a residents' parking scheme appears to have back-fired.

Angered by the number of workers and shoppers parking near their homes, they wanted to restrict the on-street space to those living nearby.

But when the 400 residents were consulted about the scheme, only a dozen householders responded and many of them were not prepared to accept a scheme that did not guarantee a space outside their own homes.

They were also concerned that total on-street parking would be reduced by the proposed scheme. It not only formalised a ban on parking within 10 metres of a junction - which has been an offence for years - by laying down double yellow lines, but planned to add more yellow paint to ensure dustcarts and other large vehicles had safe access to homes.

On Monday, Huntingdonshire's traffic management committee decided to press ahead with the yellow paint in the interest of road safety but to abandon the proposed residents' parking scheme for lack of support.

It means residents will be competing with workers and shoppers unwilling to pay as little as 30 pence to park near Sainsbury's for even less parking space.

"I'm not convinced that the residents really understand the implications," traffic engineer Karen Lunn told the committee. "There will be considerably less on-street parking. We can't let people park willy-nilly."

However, she warned: "This will come back with different issues in relation to displaced parking (in other roads) and aggrieved neighbours."

But Councillor Tom Sanderson said residents were quite clear about the implications. Urging the committee to press ahead with the residents permit scheme in spite of the lack of enthusiasm, he added: "People are just trying to avoid paying to park in Sainsbury's car park. There are already neighbour disputes. The idea is that residents buy a permit and can park somewhere near their homes rather than have spaces taken by shoppers."

* If you live in the Priory Road area then we want to know your views about the plan. Will it cause parking disputes between neighbours?

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