Parking permit scheme halted after £156k spend

A parking permit scheme in Stroud has been halted

Controversial plans to roll out parking permit schemes in Stroud which cost £156,000 have been halted.

Gloucestershire County Council had been planning to make changes to on-street parking in the market town.

The proposed parking permits would have cost people £61.80 a year for one car and an additional £123.60 for the second.

Businesses would have faced a cost of £320 a year for a parking permit.

'Money-making scheme'

Stroud Town Council questioned the proposals and the timing of them during the cost of living crisis and the challenges many face, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

They said that to many residents and businesses it felt like a money-making scheme, rather than a desire to solve parking problems.

Stroud Town councillor Adrian Oldman asked highways cabinet member Dom Morris on May 22 if he thought the £157,231 spent on the now halted scheme was good value for money.

Cllr Morris told those present at Shire Hall that he did not think it was good value for money.

“I’m not comfortable with that figure,” he said.

He has set his team the task of looking at how they could improve their parking reviews and learn from what had gone wrong.