Yellow line to tackle parking problems

ACTION is being taken to relieve parking chaos in a jam packed road next to James Paget University Hospital.

A single yellow line parking restriction is being introduced on one side of Gresham Close in Gorleston to tackle the problem caused by visitors to the hospital and the school run.

Residents have been campaigning for measures to deal with large numbers of cars parking on the roadside that regularly block and obstruct driveways.

The move received a luke-warm response from Colleen Walker, who represents Magdalen division on Norfolk County Council.

She said: “It is a stop gap solution and cars will all just park on one side of the road, people have called the police when their driveways have been blocked but not had a response.

“Residents have the right to get into and out of their homes; one family even missed their holiday because a car was blocking the driveway.

“This has been a problem since I was first elected 20 years ago, but has got much worse since the hospital introduced car parking charges.

“It is a very narrow road and all the roadside parking makes it very difficult for emergency and refuse vehicles to get through.”

Speaking at this week's area committee meeting Mrs Walker said the long term solution was the introduction of a residents parking zone in the area.

The Mercury reported last week that just one traffic warden will cover the entire borough from November 1, effectively giving drivers a licence to park wherever they want.

The lack of enforcement has come about following the decriminalisation of parking last year, which paved the way for the borough council to take on the role of parking enforcement, funded through Norfolk County Council.

However, due to the ongoing review of local government in Norfolk - which could see the current two-tier county and borough system scrapped - its adoption has been put on hold.