Hollingdean Residents Criticise New Parking Zone

Residents for and against a controlled parking zone in Hollingdean have criticised the latest proposals.

They spoke out as Brighton and Hove City Council consults the public on a scheme with restrictions from 8am to 8pm.

The latest proposals are under discussion a year after the first consultation when residents were asked if they wanted a controlled parking zone (CPZ) in principle.

The move followed the creation of “zone U”, covering the Bear Road and Coombe Road area.

When the zone was introduced, several drivers started parking in Hollingdean instead where permits were not required and there were no charges.

Hollingdean resident Andi Southern said that he supported the scheme in principle but was concerned that roads to the north and east of the area were not included.

Mr Southern was also concerned about the percentage of parking available to non-residents through the council’s pay-by-phone parking app.

He believes that half the roads north of Hollingdean Place, known locally as The Dip, would be available for non-resident parking.

He said:

“I do have concerns that Hollingdean (unlike Fiveways) is being set up as an acceptable short-term car park, given the amount of pay and display parking.

“(It’s) far more than is needed. The needs of residents to have visitors or who are having work done could be met by about 25 per cent of the spaces currently available for non-residents to park in.

“Why so many spaces for non-residents? How does it compare in numerical terms to Fiveways allocations?

“The council should arrange a consultation event so residents can meet with the planners and talk them through the local issues so their expertise can be used.

“At the moment, it feels like residents are not properly involved. We have been living with these issues for years so we have a lot of valuable knowledge.”

Mr Southern said that he was also frustrated that there was no option to say “no” to the scheme as it currently stood but “yes” to the concept.

He said:

“I voted for the CPZ initially but am unhappy with several aspects of the scheme now proposed.

“I foresee us being plagued by cars using us as a short-term car park – so not reducing traffic movements by very much at all.”

Fellow Hollingdean resident Gary Jones opposes the CPZ because, he said, it was a “regressive tax”, hitting the poorest hardest.

He said that it also charged people for something that was historically free at the point of use because it was funded from other taxes.

Mr Jones said:

“I acknowledge that some residents are struggling to park, especially in the evenings. However, this is due to displacement of vehicles because of parking permit schemes in neighbouring areas.

“The council’s mishandling and mismanaging of parking across the city is just pushing the problem out to outlying areas – and if the smaller zone votes in favour, the problems will pass on to other areas of Hollingdean.

“The issues around van dwelling and camper vans need to be resolved by local politicians and not just moved on from estate to estate.”

Mr Jones questioned why emission premiums were added to permit prices, saying that the charges should be limited to covering the cost of administering the scheme.

He said:

“It is obvious to most that the council are more interested in the revenue that they can make out of people’s desperation than they are about parking on our estate.

“If the process is really resident-led, then why doesn’t the council set permit costs at the level it costs them to administer and cap it at those levels.”

He said that he did not regard the drive for a parking zone to have been resident-led. He estimated that fewer than 30 per cent of the 3,585 households in the area responded to the first consultation, with just a few hundred people in favour.

Some 2,218 households were contacted for the next consultation, covering a smaller area of Hollingdean, with 731 responding and 448 in favour.

Mr Jones said that a small percentage of residents were now driving the parking permit policy for the “small zone” roads.

He said: “I am sorry, but this is not democratic and would not be acceptable in any other democratic institution.”

To take part in the parking consultation, visit Brighton and Hove City Council’s website by Sunday (4 June).