Businesses react to possible parking restrictions

Tattooist Ollie Nicholls said customers struggle with parking

New parking restrictions could be coming to a busy Kent industrial estate in order to curb congestion.

Medway Council is looking to install new single and double yellow lines around the Medway City Estate in Strood and has consulted on the measure.

However, many businesses have said it is already a “free-for-all” despite parking restrictions and there is too much pressure for space, amid fears the new rules will further drive away their customers.

The council said officers are now looking at the consultation responses and deciding how to proceed.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the council believes HGVs parking along Sir Thomas Longley Road, Whitewall Road and Whitewall Way are putting motorists at risk by effectively turning two-way traffic into a single lane.

This forces drivers into the other lane and oncoming traffic.

It has prompted the local authority to look into extending double yellow line restrictions on the roads, meaning vehicles will not be allowed to park there in the afternoons around rush hour.

Ollie Nicholls, who has had a tattoo parlour in Box City on the estate for the past year, said customers already struggle with parking, which means they are often late or have damaged their cars.

He said: “The industrial estate is a bit of a free-for-all, because there’s so many businesses here, and there’s just not enough parking.

“Also because it is quite busy and the high influx of clients coming and going, I’ve seen a few people here dink each other’s cars.”

Harpal Cheema runs a newsagent on Sir Thomas Longley Road and believes the traffic means customers avoid coming to his shop in the evenings.

He said: “People don’t want to lose their place in the traffic, they just want to get on."

The council’s portfolio holder for community safety, highways and enforcement, councillor Alex Paterson, said the authority’s priority must be safety first.

He said: “Where we can act we will. This is a response to a real issue which has been raised by businesses and by people who work on the Medway City Estate."