Bury St Edmunds garage David Hughes and Son, in Bishops Road, appeals to West Suffolk Council for parking permits

A business has complained of issues securing parking on their road, due to changes in recent years to council permit rules.

David Hughes and Son Motor Engineers, a family-run garage in Bishops Road, Bury St Edmunds, has been trying to secure permits to park along the road during the day.

They wish to use the permits to park vehicles in Bishops Road for emergency situations, such as if they were to become blocked into their own site.

West Suffolk Council has told David Hughes and Son that they are not entitled to residential permits on the road, where they previously owned four.

Sam Hughes said of this: “At the end of the day, as anyone will tell you, there is an issue with parking in town, and it’s usually when people come home from work – around half-five or six o’clock – and they’ve got nowhere to park.

“Obviously, we’re not making that situation any worse, because the only cars that are going to be there are our own that we bring to work, and the occasional two or three customer cars, if we absolutely have to put them in road.

“We’re not causing any damage or any issues for people who are trying to park there in the day. If we were, we wouldn’t be applying for permits in the first place.”

Mr Hughes believes the garage has been unfairly blamed by the council for creating parking issues for residents along Bishops Road.

A council spokesperson said of this: “Many of our town centre residential permit parking zones in Bury St Edmunds were heavily oversubscribed, and we recognised that there was an issue, in that residents, having paid for permits, were unable to find a place to park.

“This was certainly true in Bishops Road, where the council had, over a number of years, received complaints from residents who felt it was unfair that they couldn’t find a parking spot because the garage was parking vehicles outside their homes.

“In a bid to resolve this and other residential parking issues, the council carried out an independent review and consulted with residents and businesses on proposed changes.

“Among these, it was suggested that the scheme be limited to two permits per household. This move was backed by 66 per cent of survey respondents.

“It also suggested adding vehicle registration details to permits to prevent their misuse, and 65 per cent of respondents supported this change.

“Following on from the public support, this change has now been implemented.

“We are supporting the business [David Hughes and Son] by making them aware of other options, including visitor vouchers and the nearby car parks, and both of these options remain available to the business owner.”