Suffolk councils devise joint parking plan

Mid Suffolk District Council and Babergh District Council have devised a Joint Area Parking Management Plan (JAPMP). The plan provides a toolkit to enable the councils to support communities by allowing parking where possible, and controlling it where necessary.

Both councils are required to have a parking policy in place under the Suffolk County Council Parking Management Strategy and as part of civil parking enforcement (CPE) powers transferring the districts from April.

The aim of the plan is to support economic growth, reduce emissions to support a healthy environment as well as improve road safety, security and health to improve the quality of life for residents.

The councils stress that the plan is not a blueprint to introduce paid parking, nor does it set out parking arrangements for specific areas. The councils have also signed up to the Positive Parking Agenda, supported by the British Parking Association (BPA).

Cllr Jessica Fleming, Mid Suffolk’s cabinet member for environment, said: “Our aim is to improve parking for all our residents, bringing other benefits such as road safety, while also engaging better with our residents about parking to provide community-led solutions. Obviously, with the introduction of CPE we also hope to crack down on the few individuals responsible for inconsiderate or unlawful parking in our towns and villages.

“We know too well the issues caused by poor parking, with our waste crews often experiencing delays due to inconsiderate motorists, leading to avoidable travel for our trucks and inconvenience for our taxpayer. If approved by cabinet, this plan will play a key role in tackling this issue for everybody.”

Babergh’s cabinet member for environment, Cllr Elisabeth Malvisi, said: “Good parking should be a positive thing and that’s exactly what we’re trying to achieve through this plan for our communities. We want to cut down on inconsiderate and illegal parking, which can see frustrated motorists driving dangerously – in turn improving road safety and creating a sustainable environment for our residents, to keep our towns and villages from moving.

"There’s already exciting things in the pipeline to improve transport networks in the district, with the planned relocation of the Hamilton Road bus station to an on-street facility and the redesign of Market Hill as part of our vision for Sudbury revealed this week, as well as the introduction of CPE.”

If approved, the parking policies will be reviewed as required over coming years to ensure they continue to meet the needs of the districts and their communities. This includes reviewing car park tariffs, with Babergh having recently proposed a small increase to their long-stay car parking charges as part of their 2020-21 budget.