Newmarket Town Council hits out at £10k ‘bill’ to fund parking zones

A council has hit out at suggestions that if residents want local parking zones in Newmarket it should pay at least £10,000 towards the scheme.

Cllr Chris O’Neill, chairman of the council’s parking working group, is set to meet Mark Walsh, West Suffolk Council’s assistant director of operations, today to discuss how to progress a residents’ parking scheme.

He told a meeting of the town council on Monday: “The parking group met a representative from West Suffolk, who as the district council are jointly responsible for implementing residents’ parking zones along with Suffolk County Council, on August 7, when we were told that the process to implement resident parking zones in Newmarket would now begin for the areas that the working group has so far identified.

“It is unclear, however, at this moment if that process has actually begun and in the absence of information to the contrary, it would appear that nothing has progressed as yet,” he said.

“Possibly the cause for a delay is the question of who will fund such a project, with the district asking for at least £10,000 from the town council in what would appear to be an unprecedented request, despite this being the responsibility of West Suffolk and Suffolk County councils, and already years overdue due to past failures at those councils.”

He said that Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill had multiple residents parking schemes but neither of their town councils had been asked to pay towards them.

Newmarket’s deputy mayor, Cllr Tom Kerby said: “It seems ludicrous that we have carried out a survey of 850 residents in the All Saints’ area when the overwhelming response was for residents’ parking zones and now the district council is saying if you want a parking scheme you must pay for it.”

Cllr Andy Drummond, who is also a member of West Suffolk Council, said: “I have followed this with interest because it needs fixing. I don’t think residents’ park zones have been pushed in other towns by town councils. The question is, is the town council prepared to put its hand in its pocket to bring this forward sooner.”

Residents in the All Saints’ area of Newmarket have been lobbying for action since the introduction of civil parking enforcement earlier this year has seen them being fined if they park outside their homes between 8am and 6pm.

A working group was formed by the town council so residents could work with councillors to find a solution to the town’s parking
issues.

At Monday’s town council meeting councillors agreed with a proposal put forward by Cllr O’Neill that the process to implement residents’ parking zones start immediately with funding coming from car parking revenue or the appropriate locality budgets.

Councillors also agreed to ask the district council to consider “more seriously and vigorously” possible measures “to mitigate the immediate impact of enforcement on residents who are disproportionately affected so as to ease unnecessary stress and anguish currently being experienced.”

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