This has probably been raised before and no doubt will be again but is there nothing that can be done concerning parking on sheffield roads. I refer to the small side roads of terraced houses rather than the main roads.

I live on a small side road leading off from Middlewood-Langsett Road and I am so tired of not being able to park near my own home. Why can I not? Because shoppers decide to park there, or people thinking it safer to park there and then go elsewhere on the tram, or .... *shudder* football matches.

It is quite a narrow road with hardly enough parking space for residents but I go to work in a morning and when I return - nowhere to park until the shoppers return for their vehicles or those who work in hillsborough decide to call it a day.

The council refuse parking permits for residents only and the whole thing is a nightmare.

I wanna park outside my home.

Dragon

We live on a back street near Sheffield University and the council have brought in a parking permit scheme. Unfortunately it means if we want to be allowed to park on our street we have to pay an extra £30 per year on top of our road tax. We don't get a guaranteed parking place though, so some residents are paying the £30 extra road tax and still having to park 2 streets away from their home.

Surely as the council are making more money this year from parking fines, the resident's parking permits should be free?

Why should us council tax and road tax payers living in inner city areas have to pay an extra £30 road tax every year to subsidise the ****s who refuse to catch the bus to work or uni and insist on parking outside our homes?

I live at Hillsborough too and, although I love the area and my house, one of the reasons I'm selling up and moving out to Oughtibridge is the parking hassle.

I'd happily pay for a residents permit if it guaranteed me a parking space!

Not to sound harsh, but if the parking's bad, and that much of an issue to you, why did you move there? Such an issue was clearly going to exist and be glaringly evident before you moved there.
No one has a "right" to a space on the public highway outside their house.
And resident's schemes really do suck - I moved house because, amongst other reasons, the thieving council decided they were going to implement one where I used to live. I don't know why they're called "resident's" parking schemes as the last people they benefit are the residents.
If you are thinking of campaigning to get a scheme on your road so you have somewhere to park, consider these points:
1) as patchy says, a permit doesn't guarantee a space - you could be forced to pay and still not be able to park
2) look at all areas where such schemes have been introduced - you'll notice that when implementing the scheme the parking areas are clearly marked out and other areas are newly double-yellow lined, vastly reducing the number of available spaces.
3) the hassles/expense of getting a visitor's permit if you have a guest
4) if they decide to make it a 20 zone and put speed humps in, the traffic noise is greatly increased as people roar from one bump to the next, slam on the brakes and roar away again.

I've lived in Hillsborough for over 12 years and there wasn't a parking problem except on match days until the Supertram was built.

Is it a bit dim of me not to have had the foresight to have predicted this over a decade ago when I moved to the area?

Probably not, but the rise in car numbers has happened eveywhere so you are probably not alone.

The problem now is that a lot of households have more than 1 car,and almost all have 1.20 or 30 years ago this never happened,we have had similar threads to this and a viable resolution has not been found.
PS apart form my solution which is finish work before everyone else and pick your spot!

Originally posted by hotphil
Probably not, but the rise in car numbers has happened eveywhere so you are probably not alone.

True. The area is also starting to be bought up for student rentals because it's convenient for both Universities and it only takes a couple of terraces with more than one car owner to create problems with parking. Shamefully I'm adding to that too because my house has been bought by a student landlord.

:blush:

Originally posted by Patchy
We live on a back street near Sheffield University and the council have brought in a parking permit scheme. Unfortunately it means if we want to be allowed to park on our street we have to pay an extra £30 per year on top of our road tax. We don't get a guaranteed parking place though, so some residents are paying the £30 extra road tax and still having to park 2 streets away from their home.


So you are telling me that residents are giving the council £30 for nothing?.
This council is not as daft as I thought :hihi:

Originally posted by matsalleh
So you are telling me that residents are giving the council £30 for nothing?.
This council is not as daft as I thought :hihi:

Not only that, they can then get the new hit squad of traffic wardens to go around and enforce the permit parking and make some more cash. Keeps 'em in a job though eh? ;)

Also remember the vast amounts of tax-payer's money that will have been spent in setting up the resident's parking scheme - all those white lines/signposts every few metres/speed humps/debating time/stationery don't come for free!

Ban students from owning cars? The entire countries traffic problems solved in one fell swoop? :thumbsup:

The point is that the carsw causing the problem are not owned by the residents. As I said - they are parked by folk going to the shops who cannot be bothered to walk that extra ten minutes, or by those who have not the common sense to use the park and ride carparks provided by the tram. And those folk who work in the shops as well.

Why should I have to park a mile from my home so someone can park outside my home while they go to meadowhell on the tram for the day?

If parking on my road was for residents only then there would be no problems for a couple of years at least - until new car owners arrive anyhow.

Dragon

I guess I must be lucky then - lots of people park on my road, but as on the days when I don't get the tram to work we "miss" each other (I go to work when they arrive and they're gone when I return) it doesn't really bother me. Plus I moved here fully expecting the traffic/parking to be bad and only get worse and am actually surprised at how much better match days are than I thought they would be.

Originally posted by Dragon
As I said - they are parked by folk going to the shops who cannot be bothered to walk that extra ten minutes, or by those who have not the common sense to use the park and ride carparks provided by the tram.
Dragon

I think not using the park and ride car parks is due to a lack of common sense - isn't it that it costs to park?

As for shoppers, the existing car parks in Hillsborough aren't really adequate which is a shame as it is a great shopping centre.

I've just been reading Millennium People by JG Ballard and one of the characters says "the next revolution is going to be about parking". That made me laugh because there are always threads on here about how people are having trouble parking on their own streets.

I'm sorry to say it but I think that parking permits will eventually be introduced on nearly all streets, either that or worse, people will be stopped from parking on their streets altogether. There's trouble with it up my street and we aren't even near any shops or offices, it's just that some people have too many vehicles and they simply will not all fit in.

The other day someone was in work ranting for several hours (literally, which was so tedious I had to go out before I ended up telling them to give it a rest!) about how the free car park they used to use is now residents' only. This is someone earning a huge salary who will not pay to park in town, nor will they get the bus.

Sadly, it is people like this and those who have too many vehicles who are making it so that people will end up having to pay to park by their own homes, as is already the case in London. Anyone who's got the money of course will be able to pay the premium for a house with a drive (if it's not blocked ;) ) which will no doubt soon be seen on property prices.

The reason people use the side roads in Hillsborough is because of the following.

1. Parking in town is impossible, or stupidly expensive. I admit I used to park on the side roads in Hillsborough before I discovered the area I park in now, which is far closer to town and within walking distance.

If there were better parking facilities in town, people would be able to take their cars all the way. And before anyone starts the "you should use public transport" argument, buses cost £3 per day, each, for my wife and I. That would be £30 a week, or £120 a month. I cant afford that. Besides, buses to Deepcar are hopeless.

2. The park and ride is about £3 also. If it was free, as the one at Centertainment is, people would use it. People dont mind paying for the tram fare, its the additional cost of parking thats annoying them.

If there is a perfectly good, albeit irritating to residents, but still perfectly good free option, why would anyone choose to pay? No one in their right mind would choose to pay when they dont have to surely?

I lived on one of the roads off Middlewood Road opposite the park until a few years ago and we never had that much trouble finding a space outside our house. Admittedly the woman next door didn't have a car, and there were a couple of other pensioners without them too, but there certainly didn't seem to be a vast daily influx of parkers... except either on match days, or (and this might be closer to the mark at the moment) when there was some sort of tournament on at the bowling club in the park.

just 'cos u own a house doesn't give you the right to park on the road.
my wife complains bitterly about the same issue, but unfortunatley u have no rights to park on the road at all, legally the police are permitting you to park without taking action.(check your highway code & law books).
unfortunately just because you own a house does not give you any privelages for parking so if i were u i would either move or get used to it.

Originally posted by willman
unfortunately just because you own a house does not give you any privelages for parking so if i were u i would either move or get used to it.

Very understanding of you.

I think the original post is an appeal for a bit of consideration for and co-operation with local residents when it comes to on street parking isn't it?

I live in hoillsborough and suffer similar problems. On a daily basis it wouldn't be too bad though if only all my neightbours didn't park like a set of retards! cars regularly take up space for 2.

Originally posted by Jozafeen
Very understanding of you.

I think the original post is an appeal for a bit of consideration for and co-operation with local residents when it comes to on street parking isn't it?


i think i do understand - he wants to park outside his/her house.
if he wanted co-operation it might be better to tell the people who are parking there.
there are plenty of things that can be done to ensure a parking space - u only have to think back to the Bread programme for one idea.

I don't live near a football ground or the supertram I just live in a small cul-de-sac of semis each having a drive. And parking is horrendous. Most houses have 2-3 cars plus visiters. Hardly anyone puts their car in the garage so cars are llining each side of the road. Now that teenagers are growing up they aquire a car which adds to the congestion.
We have one car which goes in the garage ( cheaper insurance ) and still are not garanteed a slot outside our house for visiters.
If a house caught fire the fire engine wwould never get accesss.

hazel

Originally posted by hazel

If a house caught fire the fire engine wwould never get accesss.

hazel
Betcha they would!
I once lived on a RAF station and they demolished 7 cars getting to the fire,but that was on MOD land(park at your own risk).

Having simalar props up here at walkley, we bought a house with parking spaces mainly due to the issues with parking, only to find half the residents who cant get on the road outside thier own homes parking in our spaces. Needless to say we are not popular with the neighbours at the moment, but we can finally get parked on our own drive.

The answer is to make all streets around the city for 2 miles back resident parking and parking meters. This means there is enough parking for everyone - if the shoppers want meters they have to search for it..... after a while the consequence is that people cannot afford the time to go driving around the roads looking for a free meter so invariably just head straight for an NCP.

It is all about educating people that if they want to enter a city they have to pay.

Originally posted by Andygs
2. The park and ride is about £3 also. If it was free, as the one at Centertainment is, people would use it. People dont mind paying for the tram fare, its the additional cost of parking thats annoying them.



The Park & Ride is £3 for a days use. However it's £2.50 for a tram fare so 50p for parking (CCTV, secure, staffed) is good value. Otherwise you can pay £12 week or £40 for month which reduces it further.

Do cars often park in the surrounding roads rather than pay extra for secured parking?

Originally posted by Juicyb125
after a while the consequence is that people cannot afford the time to go driving around the roads looking for a free meter so invariably just head straight for an NCP.

It is all about educating people that if they want to enter a city they have to pay.

After a while they give up and go to Meadowhall. It's all about educating people that they don't need to enter the city in the first place.

highly commended to honeyplanet.

Originally posted by willman
highly commended to honeyplanet.

Why thankyou Willman :)

Originally posted by metalman
After a while they give up and go to Meadowhall. It's all about educating people that they don't need to enter the city in the first place.

Ok - sorry didn't think about that - I spend most of my time in the South and nearly all towns and London have this in place - people still go to them it is just that they know they have to use car parks or park miles away and walk.

I work at the Chilldrens hospital, parking is horrendous and there is alot of resentment about the parking restrictions that have been put in place.

Why should a resident have more right to park on a public highway than a doctor or nurse trying to get to their job, or a parent trying to get to their sick child in hospital?

Luckily I live within cycling distance and that is the option I have chosen, but for many specialised paediatric doctors and nurses this is not a possibility as they live a long distance away and public transport links are not very good for those who work unsocial hours.
As a consequence many are choosing to look for work elsewhere and our city is loosing out on some very good quality medical/nursing staff.

Originally posted by Dragon
I wanna park outside my home.
You have no more right to park on the street outside your home than anyone else. It's a public highway. Live with it.

Originally posted by InvalidUser
You have no more right to park on the street outside your home than anyone else. It's a public highway. Live with it.
This is true, and on our street nobody can get parked on the road due to the high number of cars that belong to a local repair garage, the local council take that stance as long as a car is legal it can park where ever . I have woke up this morning to yet another strange car in my space (am deciding if I should get it towed away)

Originally posted by Juicyb125
The answer is to make all streets around the city for 2 miles back resident parking and parking meters. This means there is enough parking for everyone - if the shoppers want meters they have to search for it..... after a while the consequence is that people cannot afford the time to go driving around the roads looking for a free meter so invariably just head straight for an NCP.

It is all about educating people that if they want to enter a city they have to pay.

Dont be so bloody selfish. Clearly you dont work in town then? I do and cant afford to pay the ridiculous parking charges. One of my colleagues is forced to pay £7 per day parking. Thats £140 a month. Can you afford to give that out of your salary? I cant. She lives in Chesterfield so has to drive.

If you put meters on every road within 2 miles of town, you alienate all those who want to drive to work. Why shouldnt I drive? I pay for my car. Im not some joyriding, scrounging little **** who doesnt pay for tax, insurance etc.

The fact remains that public transport for me is not a viable option, given the equipment I frequently travel with in my car. Also considering the high price of public transport, its just not something Im prepared to use. Why shouldnt I rely on the cheaper option, use my car, and park on a side road for nothing.

Originally posted by matsalleh
The problem now is that a lot of households have more than 1 car,and almost all have 1.20

Very interesting car that one! Is it a skip? No wheels? No wonder theres a parking problem if each house has a fifth of a car parked outside it!!

Originally posted by Andygs
Dont be so bloody selfish.


Ok ok ok - don't get your knickers in a twist Andygs - if you see my reply above I actually mention that I spend lots of time in the south and this sort of system has been in place for years now - there was a lot of ranting to start with when it was put in place, but now it is just accepted practice. I do apologise for being selfish, but whenever I come to Sheffield I always pay on the meter or in an NCP - no big deal to me - that is what they are there for!

:|

The answer is to make all streets around the city for 2 miles back resident parking and parking meters. This means there is enough parking for everyone
I'm not convinced. Everywhere a resident's scheme has been introduced has seen a reduction in available spaces.

As a reformed southerner I can also say that in a very busy large town where the council aggressively make it virtually impossible to park, all that happens is that there are increased jams and resentment towards the policies - by all those affected. And that includes the residents who were told they would benefit.

There's no answer to the parking - there's too many cars and not enough space. There's a "why should I give up my car if he won't?" ingrained, selfish, self-defeating arrogance amongst commuters.
Quite what can be done about it I don't know. But what is glaringly obvious is that restricting parking (or increasing the price) doesn't seem to get through to commuters. Even when presented with simple, demonstrable facts like it's quicker and cheaper to use public transport, people won't give up their cars.

Like I say though, doesn't really affect me at moment as my commute is (thankfully) car-free. I can't think of anything worse than sat in a metal box for 10 hours a week on my own crawling along knowing it takes longer and costs more than if I walked!

Nicely put hotphil - no ranting or raving, just a calmly presented opinion!:thumbsup:

Originally posted by scoop
Why should a resident have more right to park on a public highway than a doctor or nurse trying to get to their job, or a parent trying to get to their sick child in hospital? Because residents don't have a choice about their car parking arrangements at home, whereas everyone has choices of how to travel and what to do with cars when they get there.

Originally posted by Andygs
One of my colleagues is forced to pay £7 per day parking. Thats £140 a month. Can you afford to give that out of your salary? I cant. She lives in Chesterfield so has to drive.
Have the trains and busses stopped going to Chesterfield now?



My, this subject seems to bring out a lot of selfish tendiencies in people.
:roll:

Originally posted by Tony


Have the trains and busses stopped going to Chesterfield now?




Good point - out of interest what does your colleague do? If she is laden down with company equipment, isn't it up to the company to reimburse her?

Or can they not provide parking?

Parkings a pet hate of mine, but recently it's stopped bothering me - why? Because now I expect not to park anywhere near my house and so its a great bonus when I get near.

My only problem is when I have bags of shopping to carry down the street, I'm usually cursing on the third trip upto the car to get the rest of the shopping.

The parking problems on our road are caused by park users, bowlers and residents who insist on parking outside their house despite leaving a space only big enough to fit half a car in.

When I moved here in 2003, I knew there would be a bit of a problem with parking but thought it would just be match days, but I have since realised that terraces and parking just don't go hand in hand.

Originally posted by InvalidUser
You have no more right to park on the street outside your home than anyone else. It's a public highway. Live with it.

How do you know I do not live on a private road? Not saying I do but its a bit presumptuous of you.

Course I have no more right - I just live there and have no more right than the lazy so and so who cannot be bothered to leave the car at home and walk the two hundred yards to the shop for his daily newspaper.

But I do have the right to complain about the state of affairs so suck on it.

Dragon

Parking is unfortunatly a big issue in Sheffield.

We had a very nasty experience when visiting a friend a few months back. We had never been there before and parked on a public highway outside a row of houses. We were only gone for 20 minutes but when we got back a very angry man came shouting and swearing saying that this was his house and only he was allowed to park outside it! It was incredibly aggressive and intimidating. We told him it was a public road and we had every right to park there but at that point he looked like he was going to hit us to we made a sharp exit. As soon as we left his wife came out of the house and moved there car 2 foot forward as they had been forced to park right behind ours!

I can appreciate people wanting to park outside thier own house but to verbally abuse somebody because of it is totally out of order! This person needs to get a

OOOPPS! I posted without finishing my rant!

What I was going to say is people like this need to get a life and realise there are more important things to get angry about than where you park your car.

Its been really bad up here the last few days, but our problem relates more to the local garage causing congestion with cars booked in for work,
Its been so bad over the last few days that as soon as he see's a resident leaving he pulls one of his repair jobs in the space.. I keep waking up to strange cars in my drive, granted its a large drive. But personally I would never dream of putting my car on someone elses property if there were no room, I would drive off to find a public parking space.
Do you think I am overreacting? or would you feel the same?

I don't think you are overreacting. It's your private parking and nobody else should park there. I wouldn't dream of parking on somebody else's drive even if there are no spaces.

I live in Walkley too so I know how bad parking can get.

if someone parks on or across your drive ask them to move it & phone the police. this is the only parking incident they can do anything about. they should come out & resolve it or legally u can have the car towed away for blocking your driveway.

Originally posted by Dragon
How do you know I do not live on a private road? Not saying I do but its a bit presumptuous of you.

Course I have no more right - I just live there and have no more right than the lazy so and so who cannot be bothered to leave the car at home and walk the two hundred yards to the shop for his daily newspaper.

But I do have the right to complain about the state of affairs so suck on it.

Dragon
its irrelevant if the road is private or not - if it is on a map or falls under the jurisdiction of the police u have no legal rights to park.if it is non of these then it's either a private driveway or a car park.we are all only alllowed to park as a privelage read your highway code or ask the police- so now i've got something u can suck on.

It may have to resort to that willman, I was hoping to deal with it reasonably but just as we think its sorted someone else starts doing it. I did actually tell a chap I would have his car towed the other morning, as it had been in my space since 10pm the following night. he said that 'there was no need to be like that' he had only nipped back to get his work clothes out and was going to leave it there all day too.
He did move it when I pointed out he was on private property.
And then theres the odd person just nipping to the shops up the road there usually only an hour or so. it would'nt be quite as bad if just one of them had ever asked.. :rant:

Originally posted by Tony
Because residents don't have a choice about their car parking arrangements at home, whereas everyone has choices of how to travel and what to do with cars when they get there.


Have the trains and busses stopped going to Chesterfield now?



My, this subject seems to bring out a lot of selfish tendiencies in people.
:roll:
Well, I'm afraid I beg to differ. I used to live in the area around the hospital and I just accepted that if I went out in my car during the day I wouldn't be able to park near my home when I got back and would probably have to go and fetch it back from wherever I had parked it after office hours (ie, when cars parked outside my home had been driven away). Therefore there is a choice and the first choice is Do I really want to live in an area where it will be difficult to park my car.
What choice do parents have when travellin to the hospital, some of them may have children with disabilities and may find negotiating public transport difficult, should someone who is able bodied have more access to parking on the street than them just because it happens to be out side their house?

With regard to buses and trains, I live in Sheffield and their is no public transport to get me to the start of my shift at 7.30am on a weekend.
People who live outside Sheffield find it virtually impossible to arrive at work for 07.30 on any day of the week using public transport, these people are highly skilled, specialist nurses and doctors working at yorkshires only dedicated childrens hospital and they are slowly draining away from us because of the cost and stress of trying to park to get to work.

Originally posted by honeyplanet

Do you think I am overreacting? or would you feel the same?

I don't think you are overreacting - maybe you want to suggest if he is going to need to use your drive he should pay a rental fee? See if he uses it then.... or put some sort of fencing, or chain etc and a note saying private property.

Why should he be able to park on your property - a public road is a different matter, but someone's personal drive is just rude!