No new on-street parking permits for residents are being issued in Appleby town centre at present, a meeting was told.
The bombshell announcement was dropped by Appleby Town Council clerk Sue Gilbertson at a recent meeting of its planning and general purposes committee.
“My jaw is on the floor with that,” said Appleby mayor Gareth Hayes.
Ms Gilbertson said the town council had received notification from Cumbria County Council, which issues on-street parking permits, that people moving to the centre of town who have not got off-street parking should not assume that they will automatically get a resident’s parking permit.
The response came following an inquiry made by Ms Gilbertson on behalf of a resident of Appleby’s Bridge Street. He asked if the town council could help him because his application for a resident’s car park permit had been refused and he could not understand why.
The meeting was told that the issue was not, as first thought, that he was possibly refused a permit because he lived on Bridge Street, rather than Boroughgate.
It was because no resident parking permits were being given out at present – because too many had already been allocated in Appleby.
“What they said was, people moving to the centre of town who haven’t got off-street parking shouldn’t just assume that they are automatically going to get a resident’s parking permit. They should do the due diligence beforehand, before they buy a property with the expectation that they are going to get a permit. That might not be the case, because there are too many out there,” said Ms Gilbertson.
A county council spokesman said: “The town centre of Appleby has seen an increase in the development and conversion of buildings from business to residential use in recent years.
“This has created a greater demand for parking facilities, which has become increasingly challenging to accommodate. While we understand that parking is a crucial factor in selecting a property, the limited availability of on-street parking facilities in the area has made it difficult to provide for everyone’s needs. And despite the numerous requests we receive, it is not feasible to grant every application.
“While some buildings and properties may be located within the boundaries of a current permit location, there is no automatic eligibility for permits. Cumbria County Council’s highways and parking teams are working to balance and manage the availability of on-street parking spaces, which is a limited communal asset for all drivers and the community in general.
“Accommodating one new development/conversion would require us to provide the same provision for others, which would significantly reduce parking capacity and have a detrimental effect on existing parking areas for both residents and visitors.”
