Decision reached for on-street parking consultation

Thanet District Council has reached a decision in relation to a proposed parking scheme for Westbrook, Westgate and Minnis Bay.

The scheme intended to introduce pay and display bays for on-street parking in these areas:

• The Parade, Minnis Bay Birchington
• Cuthbert Road, St Mildred’s Road, Station Road, Westgate-on Sea
• Canterbury Road, Westbrook

A consultation which ran in May 2018, resulted in over 5,300 responses from local residents and businesses related to the proposed changes.

This prompted a decision to allow more time to analyse the challenges and to explore a range of potential solutions to resolve issues around congestion, lack of turn-over of spaces and pedestrian safety which these proposals intended to address.

Following the objections received, and review by the Joint Transportation Board, the decision has been made not to proceed with pay and display schemes in these locations at this time. Currently Minnis Bay and Canterbury Road have free parking. In Westgate-on-Sea there are time limited bays which allow motorists to park free of charge for up to one hour.

A resident parking scheme with shared time limited bays in Royal Crescent, Westbrook will continue to be taken forward.

Cllr Steve Albon, Thanet District Council’s Cabinet Member for Operational Services, said: “We have listened to the concerns raised by local people and responded. We recognise the importance of balancing the needs of businesses and their customers with the aim of reducing congestion and therefore emissions, as well as the safety of pedestrians and other road users. We hope that this decision is well received.”

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