By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
There are concerns that a road resurfacing and repainting “fiasco” in Cheltenham means parking restrictions are unenforceable.
Gloucestershire Highways say they have found issues with the lining and traffic regulation order (TRO) at Pittville Street following some resurfacing works there.
And they plan to rectify the problem over the next months.
The issue was raised last week by Councillor David Willingham (LD, St Mark’s and St Peter’s) who said taxi drivers had told him the council made a mess of the reinstatement of the lines there.
Cllr Willingham asked council chiefs how many parking fines had been issued to vehicles illegally parked in the Pittville Street taxi rank, blue badge bays and loading bays since the road was resurfaced.
He also asked Shire Hall chiefs to confirm whether the necessary TRO, signs, and lines are all correctly in situ to allow parking enforcement to occur at this location.
Council leader Stephen Davies (C, Hardwicke and Severn) said the street was resurfaced in January 2024 and seven penalty charge notices have been issued since.
“We have identified issues with the current Traffic Regulation Order and lining following resurfacing works,” he said.
“Both are scheduled for rectification over the coming months.”
Cllr Willingham asked in a follow-up question at Gloucestershire County Council’s meeting on February 19.
He wanted to know why the issue was taking so long to fix and whether they would apologise to blue badge holders and taxi drivers over the fiasco.
“I’ve been told by taxi drivers in Cheltenham that such a mess has been made post resurfacing and reinstatement of the lines that the parking restrictions are currently unenforceable,” Cllr Willingham said.
“How did this happen? Why has it taken so long to fix and is the council going to apologise to blue badge holders and taxi drivers for this fiasco?
“I don’t understand how you can get something so badly wrong and take this long to fix it.”
Cllr Davies disputed the definition of badly wrong but confirmed there have been issues in Pittville Street.
“There is a recognition that some issues have been raised and we will be addressing those.”