Parking charges that were supposed to be introduced today have been put off as the Council haven’t switched on the parking machines that have been installed in Royal Victoria Park.
Many local residents have been criticising the decision to introduce pay and display machines across the park.
The plans by the Council to eliminate people using the park for free all-day parking were announced back in November with a consultation period being held until the start of December last year.
The charges were already scheduled for earlier in May but the Council postponed the introduction to today for the painted lines, new signage and machines to all be in place, and allow for residents to use the park for free during half-term.
The introduction of the parking measures follows the Lottery Heritage Fund awarding the Council £1.8million back in 2000 for improvements to be made in reducing the traffic through the park. They introduced pay and display in Royal Avenue in 2001 but have only initiated the rest of the park being restricted now as the time allowance for the lottery funding is close to running out.
A petition has been started by a local resident against the cost and limitations that the parking restrictions will bring to the area.
The petition against the charges has already reached over 200 signatures, with some residents leaving comments such as: “The parking charges in Bath are ridiculous. There’s no fair charge for those if us that just pop into town for 30 mins.”
If you’d like to add your signature to the petition, you can find it here.
Update: The Council have said that the parking machines will all be activated later this afternoon and enforcement will begin tomorrow (Tuesday) morning.
