The Birmingham Post reports today that Solihull Council are planning to review some controversial parking restrictions just two weeks after they were introduced.
Local residents living in an area that becomes clogged with cars parked by shoppers patronising the nearby town centre had called for a straightforward parking permit system, but this was thrown out by the council in favour of a complex set of restrictions, only allowing motorists to park at certain times, and the introduction of four parking zones.
As a consequence of these new rules many local residents have fallen foul of parking wardens, and several have resorted to converting their front gardens into driveways to avoid any penalties for parking within reach of their own houses.
So now, after just a fortnight, the £25,000 scheme is being reviewed and with all likelihood the residents will see the introduction of the parking permits they requested in the first place. But obviously at an additional cost to the taxpayer.
We can perhaps sympathise a little with Solihull Council who complain that the area was too large to implement a parking permit scheme, but that does not excuse the fact that they have essentially wasted £25,000 on a deeply flawed and highly unpopular alternative.
In putting this new system into operation against popular opinion, Solihull Council clearly didn’t envisage a scenario in which they would have to succumb to the wishes of the community they are employed to serve, and now that they have woken up to their own mistakes it will fall to the local taxpayer to foot the bill.