Residents and popular pub in busy part of Northampton call on council to sort out parking 'nightmare' in their area

Residents on St Michael's Road, in the Mounts area, say they can never find a space near their homes despite having a parking permit from West Northamptonshire Council (WNC), thus rendering the scheme “useless”.

Resident and dad Darren Lee says he can “never find a spot” and has requested that WNC open up the council-owned St Michael's Road car park for residents with permits.

He said: “It's generally a parking nightmare here. The permits are in operation from 8am to 10pm to stop non-residents from parking in resident spots. The problem is there aren’t enough spaces for residents as it is, without having to fight for a parking space after 10pm. The only way to secure a space, which we pay for, is to never use your car and keep it parked. It's just ridiculous.

"Sometimes my daughter is asleep when I return home, and it makes it very difficult when I have to park so far away in a non-permit area.”

Other residents have echoed Darren’s sentiments as well as The Charles Bradlaugh pub (TCB), which has said residents often ask if they can park in its car park.

A spokesman for the Charles Bradlaugh said: “We have ongoing issues in our car park with people using it without visiting our venue. We often receive requests from local residents asking if they can park in our car park because they can't find a space in their permit area, day or night.

"This particularly affects TCB on event days, as our customers struggle to find parking while local residents occupy our spaces. We do our best to help those who ask, but we need to keep spaces available for our patrons.

"There is generally a lack of parking in the town, which has been worsened by increasing population density and the removal of car parks over time. I fear this will only get worse with the planned removal of the Mayorhold car park as part of the Greyfriars development. Parking in the town can reasonably be referred to as a nightmare.”

The pub also called for St Michael’s Road car park to be opened up to residents as well as other council-owned car parks.

The spokesman said: “Surely something can be done about the St Michael's Road car park? Since it uses number plate recognition, it could easily void permit holders’ charges automatically.”

Resident Krychov Hristov added: “I finish at 11pm and can never find a place. I once parked in a one-hour bay and forgot, so I got a ticket. I spoke to the council, but I still had to pay even though there was no space in my permit area.”

Resident Mr. Bashir said: “The council has issued too many permits. There’s nowhere to park. We have to use the one-hour bays and keep checking to see if there's a space available, which is very stressful, especially when you forget where you parked and end up with a fine. It's not fair since we pay for a permit.”

Another added: “You can drive around the entire Mounts Permit Area D five times or more and still not find a parking space. I’ve received quite a few tickets for forgetting where I parked overnight because I ended up in a one-hour no-return bay. It’s very frustrating, to say the least.”

In response, WNC said that it cannot open car parks for on-street resident permit holders but did not provide a specific reason why.

The council did say there was a significant price difference between on-street permits and those for town centre parking. On-street permits cost £35 per year, while town centre parking permits are £396 per year.

A council spokeswoman said: “Residents’ parking zones are designed to help residents park close to their homes and make it more difficult for non-residents to park in areas with restrictions. They do not reserve spaces exclusively for permit holders, but permit holders may park without restriction in the resident parking bays/areas provided in any of the streets within their designated zone.

“Residents-only parking is appropriate in areas where the demand for parking exceeds the number of available spaces due to pressure from non-resident vehicles. Allowing residents to park where restrictions exist provides greater opportunities to find parking near their homes, although not guaranteed.

“On-street resident permit schemes are separate from those for residents living in the immediate town centre. Therefore, it is not possible to open up car parks for on-street resident permit holders. Town centre long-stay car parks are only available to residents living within the inner ring road. There is a significant price difference between these permits: on-street permits cost £35 per annum, while town centre permits cost £396 per annum (£33 per month).”