Last month, the Cambridge City Joint Area Committee unanimously agreed to progress plans for city-wide residents’ parking to the Highways committee in March to try and combat issues caused by commuter parking. The proposals divide most of the city into zones which will be consulted upon in stages.

If the proposals are agreed by the remaining council committees, each zone will then be consulted upon individually. Only if over 50% of the respondants to the consultation in each zone are in favour will the scheme be implemented in that zone.

The area between Mill Road and Cherry Hinton Road will be one of the first to be consulted, followed by the rest of the zones. If residents’ parking is implemented in the area east of the station, this may have the effect of pushing existing commuter parking out to the rest of Romsey and Queen Edith’s, hence why the consultation is happening in stages. After the first phase is implemented, the amount of commuter parking north of Mill Road may substantially increase, and so in turn making a residents’ parking scheme in the area more desirable.

The full details of the proposals can be found here, the main points are:

• Legally, the Council cannot charge more than that needed for the upkeep of the scheme. The costs are still to be determined, but existing schemes elsewhere in the city cost between £50-80 a year.
• There will be a maximum of 3 resident permits per household, with visitors permits also available. There’s also provision for free permits for those with medical or other specific needs.
• The standard operating times are Monday-Friday 9am-5pm, although there are various other options that could be implemented
• As part of the residents’ parking scheme implementation, some pay-and-display parking may be added for use by non-residents. This may decrease the total amount of parking space available to residents on those streets.

These proposals are next to be considered in March, so consultations could start later in the year or maybe into next year.

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