Dominic Bareham AN extension of residents' permit parking facilities and a concessionary season ticket scheme for office and day workers has been mooted for Great Yarmouth.

Dominic Bareham

AN extension of residents' permit parking facilities and a concessionary season ticket scheme for office and day workers has been mooted for Great Yarmouth.

Borough councillor Mick Castle proposed creating a Zone B permit area stretching from Ormond Road and Kitchener Road in the north to Regent Street in the south, and a Zone C around St Peter's Road and King's Road.

The season ticket plan would provide cheaper parking for office, shop and hospitality workers in less well used town centre car parks.

The idea arose at a meeting of the Yarmouth area liaison committee on Monday following the creation of an existing permit zone near the seafront.

If the scheme is approved by the Yarmouth Car Parking Steering Group, Mr Castle suggested the borough council holds a more formal consultation to gauge residents' opinions with a view to having the zones in place by next year.

Mr Castle said the town's Labour group had conducted a survey of residents in the Zone B area which revealed that three-quarters had trouble parking where they lived while 65pc were prepared to pay the £25 fee for a permit.

He said: “Parking is a serious issue in the town. It can be quite upsetting when you get somebody park outside your house for the whole week.

“While we have an existing parking scheme in the seafront area, we have already seen the uplift it has given these areas because people's properties are worth more because the owners are more likely to stay and improve their homes.”

Mr Castle's fellow Labour councillor John Holmes said: “I feel we must improve the car parking offer for people who come to this town and at the same time improve life for people who live in this town.”

Councillor Graham Plant, the borough's cabinet member for regeneration and tourism, said the cost of administering and policing any season ticket proposal would have to be considered.

He added the extension of the residents parking scheme would have to consider the impact on people visiting Yarmouth from surrounding villages such as Bradwell, Hopton and Caister.