Dorset Council Residents' Parking Permit Policy (Weymouth Zones A and C) EqIA

Aims of the policy

The policy is designed to provide a framework for the more effective re-provision of residents parking in Weymouth (Zones A and C), give guidelines for parking in the roads that have residents’ permits and how car parks can be utilised in future. Zones A and C are in central Weymouth, forming a triangle between the seafront and the station, the area is known locally as Park District of Weymouth. The area is mainly made up of Victorian streets and houses which are privately owned, rented and converted to bed and breakfasts/hotels thus the demand for parking is extremely high.

Background to the proposal

The current Residents Permit Parking Policy allows bed and breakfast/hotel owners to have a certain amount of resident permits and to park on the streets marked zones A and C, along with the local residents. On 11 January 2019, residents from the Park District Community Forum presented a petition to the council’s Petitions Committee. The purpose of the petition was to ask for a review of the Residents’ Parking Permit Policy specifically affecting the Park District area.

The petition led to the council undertaking a consultation into resident parking zones A, C and AC. The results were analysed and then there were four changes to the Residents’ Parking Policy that were recommended:

The recommendations were agreed and supported by the member brief-holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, Councillor (Cllr) Ray Bryan.

Intelligence and Communication 

Data, information, evidence and research used and how it has influenced the decision-making process

Local area population statistics, the number of existing permit holders, the number of parking spaces, and the equality and diversity data (including age and disability) from the consultation were analysed.

There are no protected characteristic adversely affected by the recommended changes.

Engagement or consultation that has taken place as part of this EqIA

A consultation commenced 7 October 2019 and ran for six weeks ending 18 November 2019. The consultation was available both electronically and in paper form from the parking services team. The consultation was promoted widely through both the local press, social media. Three drop-in sessions were held locally covering afternoons and evenings allowing consultees to speak with representatives from the council’s Parking Services Team and for help completing the survey if required.

The main aim of the consultation was to understand how residents, businesses, hotel/guesthouses and other stakeholders feel about potentially changing the residents parking permit allocation with the intention of making the parking scheme more effective and alleviate the strain on parking in the area.

273 overall responses were received. 81% of responses were from residents, 7% from businesses. And 12.5% from guest house/hotel owners. The response size is good for a consultation of this type.

Feedback

The outcome of the consultation will be fed back to stakeholders through a phased project of:

• media publicity,
• Dorset Council’s website,
• individual householder letters explaining the new procedure. 

Assessment

This is currently under review.