Residents believes a new parking permit scheme which is coming into force later this year will start "road wars" in the community.

Caroline Kearns, who lives on Acme Road, Callowland said around 200 people living in the area are upset with the new parking permits which were approved by Watford Borough Council and are due to start near the end of November.

Ms Kearns said neighbours are concerned about the new permit hours, Monday to Saturday, 8am to 10am and 7pm to 10pm. She believes it will create difficulty for permit holders to park during rush hour when they're coming home from school pick-up or work.

The borough council said it was approached by people living in the area about adopting a form of parking control which would benefit residents rather than commuters.

But said after speaking to businesses it found they were worried that all-day parking for permit holders could lead to a destruction of the high street.

According to a map on the council's website, Callowland has been split into two areas. The area concerned suggesting five hours of permit time, reserved for permit holders, is classed as area one and will cover around 28 streets in the area.

The other zone, area two, which includes the streets north of Balmoral Road and Gammons Lane (north east of the ward) had the suggested hours of Monday to Friday, 10am to 12pm, which would be reserved for permit holders. 

A questionnaire was sent to both areas in July last year asking if they were in favour of a scheme and the council said it found that 68 per cent were in favour of one.

It said in February this year, a second questionnaire was sent to area one asking if they were in favour of the suggest five hour permit time. A separate one with the other suggested time was sent to zone two.

The council said from this, it was found that a 55.7 per cent majority from zone two were not in favour of the scheme and as a result, it was dropped.

Watford Observer:

An example of the type of parking in Callowland. Credit: UGC

But the council sent out a letter in May that 67.7 per cent (397 voters) were in favour of the times for the first zone and that it was going to proceed with the Traffic Regulation Order in August.

It said notices were placed on street lamps and sent through the post.

But Ms Kearns, who lives in area one, believes the vote wasn’t reflective as she said the majority (292 voters) across both areas voted for all day parking in the first questionnaire and believes the council hasn’t been transparent through the process.

The council said that although the first survey showed residents were in favour of longer restriction hours, the council reiterated that it had negative feedback from businesses, saying the longer hours would impact their businesses. As a result, it decided to split the hours.

Ms Kearns also said that she didn’t receive the second questionnaire about the suggested times and found that she was not alone after speaking to various residents.

She added: "I don't know where they got the suggested times from after the first questionnaire which gave the option to vote all day restrictions and we haven't been told how the businesses voted. I don't believe the consultation process was advertised enough, I have spoken to people in the area who were not even aware of the new permit times, they thought the all day parking was coming in."

The permits will cost one household £25 a year for their first car and £55 for their second and Ms Kearns believes people will take advantage of the free hours of parking.

She said she feels like the council are prioritising shoppers and businesses due to the free parking hours in the middle of the day in the residential roads. She said on narrow roads such as Bradshaw Road, there is already difficulty parking.
She said that the permit hours could result in people in the area parking on double yellow lines and having to risk a parking ticket.

She added that areas in west Watford are paying the same permit prices but instead have 10-hours of permit parking and said it will create tension amongst neighbours over limited parking spaces.

She added: "It’s going to be road wars and I’m worried about what we’re going to do about parking when coming home at rush hour."

Ms Kearns said she does not want the permit to be removed but instead for the times to be changed to help benefit those living in the area.

Elected Mayor of Watford Peter Taylor said "There will always be different views on the parking controls that should apply in individual streets. We only make changes after setting out the options, listening to residents and businesses and making changes when there is a consensus in favour of this."