Rollout of parking permit schemes causes 'civil war'

Labour county councillor David Drew said "I have endured a civil war"

A rollout of parking permit schemes has led to dozens of problems and disgruntled residents.

Residents are said to be "up in arms" over the changes in Cheltenham, Gloucester and Stroud.

Gloucestershire County Council has agreed to set up a task group to investigate how decisions were made.

Labour councillor David Drew put forward a motion for the traffic regulation order process to be looked into.

Mr Drew said: "I did warn them from the outset that they were looking at virtually the whole of Stroud town. I said it will cause civil war, well I have endured the civil war. I've come out the other side."

"My annoyance in Stroud is I've got areas desperate to have a TRO (traffic regulation order), I've got other areas who want it like whatever or don't want it all."

Lib Dem councillor, for All Saints and Oakley, said the council did not cover itself in glory with the rollout of zone 15 which covers 50 roads in northeast Cheltenham.

He acknowledged the way the leader stepped in and did what was possible to "put issues right".

"The difference between civil war and a bit of a disturbance," he said. "I tell you, it did feel a bit like a civil war for me.

"It goes back to the fundamental thing of people with parking are really quite selfish. They demand in effect the ability to park outside their house, and you can't do it."

Lib Dem councillor Jeremy Hilton said the consultation was "maybe not good enough"

Councillor Jeremy Hilton, for Kingsholm and Wotton, said he was one of the members who had experienced people's anger when a parking permit scheme was rolled out in their area.

"It took three years from the day they did the traffic survey to them doing the informal and then formal consultation and then consultation on the amendments to the scheme," he said.

"Then early last year it was publicised that lawyers signed it off and that's when it kicked off with a lot of residents being upset and up in arms about the scheme."

He said the consultation was "maybe not good enough" as people did not know it was going to be implemented.

Highways cabinet member Dom Morris said he would not call it a "civil war"

Highways cabinet member councillor Dom Morris said he would not call it a "civil war" but "community challenges and opportunities and how contentious some of these schemes are".

"We have to accept that sometimes things don't go as well as we'd hoped," he said.

"What the public want to see is that when things don't go well, politicians put their hands up and say we didn't get this right."

He said the council will extend the permit scheme by a month.

Mr Morris said they were committed to an external review to learn from what did not go right and integrate it into the council's systems and processes.

Councillors voted unanimously to approve the motion.