People living in half a dozen streets in Hove have a few days left to comment on plans for a residents’ parking scheme.
The two options include a light-touch scheme, extended from neighbouring roads to those near Wish Park, with restrictions twice a day for an hour. Or a new zone will have restrictions from 9am to 8pm.
A similar proposal in nearby Bolsover Road is also the subject of a consultation ending on Friday (29 August).
The spread of controlled parking zones has prompted much comment. Recent examples include Matlock Road and surrounding streets, the area around London Road Station and in Preston Park, all in Brighton.
Communities are often finely divided between those who want restrictions and those against.
Once a scheme has been agreed it can be hard to bring about any significant changes as shopkeepers in Matlock Road and residents in nearby streets recently found.
They asked for a raft of changes and some expressed heartfelt frustration at what they regarded as bureaucratic intransigence.
But they won concessions from Brighton and Hove City Council. Drivers can park free for an hour outside the shops and the scheme operates for five days a week – not seven. This targets commuters displaced by controlled parking around Preston Park Station.
These concessions were not won overnight nor without persistence.
The proposals in Hove have been preceded by a great deal of debate.
The two councillors for Wish Ward – Garry Peltzer Dunn, the former Conservative leader of the old Hove Borough Council and Labour member Anne Pissaridou – are keeping their views to themselves. Both want residents to have their say and will support the outcome.
Councillor Pissaridou said: “When I was campaigning in 2011 many residents were left out of previous parking consultations. That’s why I have campaigned for them to be given the chance to put forward their views.
“I am delighted they now have that opportunity and have been urging them to take part.
“It is not for me to express a preferred option. I want the community to have their say and I will then support them in the option they choose.
“My fellow ward councillor Garry Peltzer Dunn is a political rival. While of course we have political differences, there are many community issues in which we are in agreement.
“The most important thing is building a working relationship to ensure local residents have their issues addressed and are properly represented in council and I feel Garry and I have achieved that.”
As a retired civil servant, Councillor Pissaridou may find it easier than some to deal with the council on behalf of others.
She came to Brighton eight years ago and became a councillor three years ago. It’s fair to say that parking is probably not the subject that most ignites her political passions.
She said: “I believe that education is the way out of poverty so I was very pleased to be asked to be spokesperson for children and young people for the Labour group, and look forward to helping to raise the standards in all the schools in Brighton and Hove and Portslade and helping all children to feel that they are of equal value in society.”
As the second of nine children growing up near Manchester, Councillor Pissaridou went straight from school to work to help bring in money for her family. University came later.
She is proud that her three daughters were able to go to university and have professional careers – and give her ten grandchildren.
Although long a Labour supporter, she said that she had no thoughts of becoming a councillor until persuaded to stand by a party colleague.
She said: “I did so because I thought that I would be able to help people who need help.”
And she takes satisfaction in helping to sort out some of the many and varied problems raised by people in her ward.
If parking becomes less of a problem in the area around Wish Park, she will be pleased.
Some fear that a new or extended zone will just displace the problem. Then, like a rash, it will spread.
And because parking generates millions of pounds for councils, few expect anything other than the spread of controlled parking. But the principle itself is rarely up for debate.
The consultation deadline is on Friday (29 August). The results will be discussed when the council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee meets on Tuesday 7 October.
For more information, visit http://consult.brighton-hove.gov.uk.
