Closer working between Swindon Borough Council and local residents is about to deliver an experimental scheme to create around 100 new residents' parking spaces in Eastcott.
The scheme starts on Tuesday 1st November and is designed to meet a pent-up demand for extra parking spaces in residents' parking zones D & E, which covers 35 streets. It will be trialled for six months, after which any necessary changes will be made. Following that, it is expected to be made permanent.
The scheme has come about following meetings between residents and councillors and council staff in the town centre cluster, which covers the Central and Eastcott wards.
The Chair of the Cluster, Cllr David Wood, said: "We have been working closely with residents for eighteen months, and following a lot of really positive meetings where we discussed various proposals and ideas, we came up with a plan that we then consulted everyone about at two public events.
"Extra parking for permit holders has been an issue in Eastcott for as long as I can remember, so I am pleased we've got something up and running. Hundreds of residents have been involved in the conversations we've had. It's a trial, so we can alter it if issues arise when it's actually operating on the ground."
The scheme, which will remove some double yellow lines to create more spaces, and convert some limited waiting parking bays into permit-holder bays only, will cost around £15,000. Work to install signs and remove yellow lines begins on site today (Monday 24 October).
Cllr Russell Holland, Swindon Borough Council cabinet member for One Swindon, Communities and Housing, said: "This is a great example of the new way we want to work as a council, getting more involved at a local level and giving local communities and their councillors more power to make decisions.
"We've long known that the council and other bodies don't have all the answers to local problems. The answers are often with the people who actually live there."
Further Information
For full details please see Changes In Residents' Parking Zones D and E.