Parking plans

PLANS to put pay and display metres across the district and introduce parking permits for residents have moved forward.North Somerset Council has agreed to submit its draft plans for the decriminalisation of parking enforcement across the district to the Department for Transport.Proposals include charging people to park on roads in town centres and selling residents parking permits to allow them to park near their house, as well as introducing waiting and loading restrictions across the area.If the plans go ahead people parking in a pay and display space without paying will be fined £60, which will be discounted by 50 per cent if it is paid within 14 days.The council has also included in its draft proposal a request for powers to introduce clamping when it feels it is necessary.If the scheme, which would cost the local authority £605,000 to set up, is approved, parking enforcement in North Somerset would be taken out of the hands of the police and would come under the control of the council, which would employ about 16 uniformed parking attendants. The attendants would be on duty according to the controlled zone times but if a vehicle needed to be removed the police would still be called in.Members of North Somerset Council's executive agreed to submit the draft proposal at a meeting on Tuesday. Once the application has been submitted to the Department for Transport it will take nine to 12 months to complete the process.l Parking provision in Clevedon is also undergoing some changes. North Somerset Council is considering using part of the Salthouse Fields car park for coach parking and to introduce some long stay and short stay parking at the currently underused Hawthorns car park. Community transport groups will also benefit from a special permit which allows them to park in two dedicated spaces in Locking Road car park in Weston-super-Mare. Car parking charges across North Somerset are to stay the same.