The London Road Station North residents’ parking zone has now been in place for three months and we have noticed considerable changes in our quality of life. Not only is parking for residents now much easier but road safety is more assured with higher visibility at junctions and easier access for pedestrians, wheelchairs and buggies at corners. The quality of the local street environment has improved dramatically.
Yet the scheme has always had, and continues to have, some opponents who would like to see it dismantled. People usually only write to their councillors to make complaints so this can create an inaccurate impression of local opinion. So it is important that if you agree with us that the residents’ parking scheme has improved your life, please find the time to let your councillors and transport officers know. Please write to express your support to your councillors:
Amy Kennedy amy.kennedy@brighton-hove.gov.uk
Leo Littman leo.littman@brighton-hove.gov.uk
Mike Jones mike.jones@brighton-hove.gov.uk
The relevant council officer is:
Charles Field. charles.field@brighton-hove.gov.uk
community car parking 
I do not own a car and the controlled parking hasn’t improved my quality of life. My main complaint is that I am restricted to 50 visitor permits a year. I have already used a lot as I had to sometimes have a hire car for work and had work being done on my house and because I now have a new born baby I’ve been having lots of visitors. Fifty permits is not even one visitor a week!!! In addition I was planning a home birth and the midwives are only allowed to park for one hour so if I had ended up having a home birth, I would have had to possibly use four vouchers for them because of shift changes. Surely midwives should be allowed to park for free unrestricted?!
The streets are so empty of cars during the day as well that it just seems like the timing of the controls are all wrong. Around Preston Park Station they just have a restriction between 12 and 1 which deals with people who don’t live there leaving their cars there while they commute to London etc!
Seems to me this would be much more sensible for zone J too. Also it would be much easier and cheaper to manage as a traffic warden would only have to check between these times.
I would agree that the quality of life for some people has improved, but this has only been at the expence of others quality of life, North of the scheme. Hardly something to be too excited about.
My own quality of life has not changed. I always could park close to my house, and I still can. I am poorer to the tune of £120, but I recognise that that was a necessary price to pay for people in Springfield, Rugby and Florence Roads to be able to have an improved quality of life.
What is very clear is that the scheme is far too restrictive. Some streets are embarrassingly empty during the day, and so there can be no justiciation for continuing with the present hours of operation. I can understand that, for people who campaigned hard for the CPZ, it is difficult to contemplate rowing back from the present position, but I would hope that they can recognise that a scheme with only limited ohurs of operation each day would achieve everything that they were seeking, whilst at the same time reducing the effect on our neighbours.
We all have to share the limited space in the City. At the moment, it is clear that we have more than our fair share, and need to respond to the concerns of others positively.