A final consultation is under way before a trial creating more short-stay parking bays in the Oldfield Park area of Bath is made permanent.
The Oldfield Park & Westmoreland Residents’ Parking Zone (RPZ) was introduced to tackle commuter parking.
Known as Residents’ Parking Zone 28, it was one of seven RPZs introduced in Bath as part of the council’s Liveable Neighbourhoods programme in 2022/23.
After the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) was sealed in December 2022, the council was contacted by businesses and community organisations about the possible detrimental impact of the RPZ and there were calls for more short-stay bays for people unable to purchase permits because they do not live in the zone.
The council agreed to an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) which was introduced on 31st August 2023 to coincide with the enforcement of the RPZ.
The ETRO has trialled approximately 60 more dual-use bays (which can have unlimited use for residents with parking permits and be used by visitors within a time limit) and limited waiting bays (where all users are subject to a time limit).
The bays are close to key places such as retail areas, churches and GP surgeries.
The council received 491 responses during the six-month consultation period. Overall, respondents felt that the increased number of short-stay visitor bays had struck a good balance between providing space for residents and visitors, and that keeping the trialled bays was vital to maintaining access to local businesses and services.
The feedback received was sent in a report to Bath & North East Somerset Council’s cabinet member for highways, Councillor Manda Rigby, who decided last month that the trial could be made permanent.
The TRO is now being advertised and any objections and representations should be made to the council by Thursday 6th February.
The TRO includes:
- Dual use Zone 28 permit holder and two-hour limited waiting in parts of Upper Oldfield Park.
- Two-hour limited waiting on lengths of Livingstone Terrace.
- Dual use Zone 28 permit holder and three-hour limited waiting along lengths of St Kilda’s Road, Triangle East, Triangle North, Moorland Road, Second Avenue and Beckhampton Road.
- Three-hour limited waiting in parts of Second Avenue and Oldfield Lane.