Road being used ‘as a free car park’ claim residents

Residents are taking a petition to the council to express their concerns



A group of neighbours in Coventry have called on the council to take action on their road, which they claim is being used “as a free car park” by non-residents.

A petition of 63 signatures is requesting changes to the existing residents’ parking scheme and waiting restrictions on Michaelmas Road, near Coventry railway station.

The road has ‘shared use’ bays which are part of a parking scheme for residents Monday to Saturday 8am-6pm, with limited waiting of 30 minutes with no return within three hours during the same period.

But residents say the bays are being abused by commuters, neighbouring roads and taxis.

The petition states: “We, the undersigned, respectfully request that the Cheylesmore West Residents Parking Scheme be adjusted so that only Michaelmas Road residents and their visitors can park on Michaelmas Road.

“This is to protect the street from increased traffic associated with the Friargate Development as well as the daily abuse as a free car park by residents of the wider neighbourhood, commuters from outside the local area, and taxis.

“We would also like the 30 minute waiting time adjusted to a 15 minute grace period on weekday afternoons to facilitate the collection of children from King Henry VIII School.”

The petition further calls for the speed limit to be reduced to 20 miles per hour to improve pedestrian safety, particularly for school children.

But council officer Caron Archer has recommended against reducing the speed limit ahead of a council meeting on Monday, June 17, when a decision will be made, citing a lack of accidents in the last three years.

Reducing the waiting time has also been discounted as parking surveys at different times of the days have “showed that there were spaces available”, she said in her report.

She added: “An alternative option would be the use of a mobile vehicle activated sign to advise of the speed limit for a short period of time.”

Picture shows gridlock on road being used as 'free car park'



A petition from Coventry residents who say drivers are using their road as a "free car park" for the train station and city centre is due to be discussed today.

Michaelmas Road in Cheylesmore has a residents' parking scheme in place, but Karen Wilson says non-residents are abusing the system and leaving little space for those who actually live there.

Ms Wilson snapped a photo of the problems - which also show how the issue is adding to queues in the area.

The council will respond to the residents' petition at a meeting today (Monday, June 17).

Ms Wilson said: “The residents are absolutely frustrated.

“The residents pay for permits in this road, a scheme that was introduced because of the Friargate development, in order to protect our road from being used as a free car park for the city workers and commuters.

“Unfortunately because we are within a one minute walk of the station people want to use our road, which stops the legitimate residents of our road being allowed to park in the road.

“Some are disabled, some need home care assistance."

She added: “With the council and Friargate hoping to expand their interest in the station area local residents must be protected.

“Every day people park in the street and head off in the direction of the city or station – not legitimate visitors.

“The neighbours report the abuse and we contact parking supervisors who more often than not monitor the situation but they cannot issue tickets to those who have a CW permit or those who have a visitor’s permit, even though they are clearly not visiting residents of the street since their cars are parked all day Monday-Friday.”

A 63-name petition is being taken to the council today (Monday, June 17) calling on the authority to make changes to ensure residents can park in their own road, as the scheme was intended for.

It's worse where I live, only one vehicle can pass at a time. It's close to a primary school too so parents and children have to weave in between stationary and moving vehicles.

As a starting point, that VW in the foreground needs ticketting

Totally agree Rebbonk. That car is fully on the pavement leaving no room for mums with prams or disabled in wheelchairs. I once complained to a councillor about pavement parking. He replied that many households have more than one car and they have to park them somewhere. It is against the law to park on the pavement but that law is never enforced.
After I left the Marines I got a job as security on a Maersk container ship. I was wounded while doing my job, the round (bullet) damaged my hip joint so I often use my mobility scoter to get to the shops. Pavement parking has occasionally made me turn round and go back home. No one cares.

...complained to a councillor about pavement parking. He replied that many households have more than one car and they have to park them somewhere.

That is their problem. We ought adopt a rule like the Japanese: no parking space, no car!

The law on parking on the pavement is interesting. It isn't illegal per se, but it is illegal to drive on a pavement and it is illegal to obstruct a pavement.

I remember years ago at Cov' Tech' Winfray block... A few students had parked illegally across the way. They were brought out of class to remove their cars and the police issued summonses to each and every one of them. - Not for the parking offence, but for driving over a pavement with no dropped kerb. Word got round pretty quickly.

Hi Rebbonk. I also went to Cov Tech but to be honest it was incredibly boring, especially the lessons in English, first floor far left was where we had English lessons. I was tall even as a young teenager so myself and another tall lad often went to the Summerland at lunch time, frequently forgetting to get back to our lessons.Ground floor workshop was OK but we often covered ground that we had learned while at work.
I believe you worked on aircraft. I recently had eight days in hospital, should have been seven but the guy in the next bed was so fascinating to talk to that I managed to get another day just to talk to him.What he didn't know about aircraft wasn't worth knowing, even knew about WW 2 aircraft. He had been an instrument designer for aircraft and designed the full instrument assemblies . I frequently regret the path in life that I chose as I would have loved to work on aircraft.

Yes Jock, I'm an indentured aircraft engineer.

My training was all about electrics, radio and radar. I loved the trade, but sadly locally it died about '82. The rest of my working life (apart from the last few years) was spent in the motor industry as a test department manager. But, the training I had always left me with a real perspective of where the motor industry was going wrong. It took them a few years, but eventually they cottoned on to what I was trying to ytell them about basic reliability. Unfortunately, it was too late and foreign competition had started to eclipse them.