Cardiff Council propose new zonal parking system to tackle congestion

CARDIFF residents may soon need to reapply for their parking permits as the council proposes moving to a new zonal parking system to tackle congestion.

The new system, which will be considered by Cardiff Council’s cabinet members later this month, would split the city into four different parking zones.

Each zone, contained within the area south of the A48, west of the River Rhymney, east of the River Ely and north of Cardiff Bay, would have its own distinct restrictions.

It is hoped that the proposal will make it easier for residents to park on their street or adjoining roads and reduce the opportunities for commuter parking.

Cardiff Council’s cabinet member for strategic planning and transport, Cllr Dan De’Ath, said: “Parking across the city has increasingly become an issue for many residents who are finding it harder and harder to park outside or near their own homes due to high numbers of commuter traffic.

“This ability for commuters to come and park in the city for free is leading to air pollution and congestion which our residents are suffering from.

“We’ve always been clear that if we are to clean up the city’s air and tackle the climate emergency then we need to reduce our reliance on the private car and get people to think more about taking public transport.

“We believe that changing the way we enable people to park across the city, making the system easier to understand so motorists know where they can or cannot park, will help to alleviate these problems and will encourage more people to think about using public transport which is better for the environment.

“As we continue to improve cycling and walking routes, the competition for space on Cardiff’s’ road network has increased and as it is impossible to create more on-street parking space, due to the physical restraints, changes need to be made.

“So, what we are proposing here is a complete overhaul of the on-street parking policy by creating a ‘zonal approach’ within Parking Management Areas so we can better manage and enforce the car parking spaces available so that the system isn’t abused.”

If the proposal gets given the go ahead by cabinet members at a meeting on Thursday January 18, a public consultation on the matter will be launched.

The council said it expects this to take place early in the new year. The new parking management areas are proposed to be as follows:

Cardiff Bay Parking Management Area

This area will cover Butetown, south of Tindall Street, west of Atlantic Wharf and east of the River Taff.

All on-street parking in this zone will be managed from 8am until 8pm and only resident, visitor, community and carer permits can be applied for.

Outside of taxi ranks and deliveries, all on-street parking spaces will be managed via restrictions and pay and display between 8am and 8pm.

City Centre Parking Management Area

Covering Cathays north of Callaghan Square, east of the River Taff, south of Cathays Park and west of the railway line, all on-street parking in this area will be managed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year and no waiting will be allowed at all.

Loading will only be permitted during certain hours to ensure businesses can re-stock.

No one can apply for a permit in this area. Taxi ranks, loading bays and disabled parking bays will be unaffected.

The Inner Parking Management Area

This area will cover residential areas adjacent to the City Centre.

All on-street parking will be managed from 8am until 10pm and only resident, visitor, community and carer permits can be applied for.

Outside of taxi ranks and deliveries, all on-street parking spaces will be managed via restrictions and pay and display between 8am and 10pm.

The Outer Parking Management Area

The outer parking management area will cover the outer residential areas surrounding the inner and Cardiff Bay parking management areas.

All on-street parking will be managed from 8am until 6pm and only resident, visitor, business, carer and school permits can be applied for.

Outside of taxi ranks and deliveries all on-street parking spaces will be managed via restrictions and pay & display between 8am and 6pm.

The new zonal parking scheme proposes that terms and conditions and types of parking permits currently available will change.

All residents that currently have a permit would need to reapply for a new zonal permit which is specific to the road or area where they live.

All those that want to park a motorbike on-street will also have to apply for a permit under the new system.

For visitor parking, each household will only be allowed to apply for 150 days of visitor parking each year.

Community on street permits would be applied for by certain places of worship or disability access groups that are exempt under specific legislation.

There would also be a business permit for on street parking.

Only businesses that have a property in the outer parking management area would be able to apply for this and it would only allow a business owner to park vehicles that are needed for the day to day running of the business.

There are two types of carer permits being proposed for on street parking, one for professional health and one for personal care for those that qualify.

Existing schools that are in the outer parking management area would be able to apply for an on-street school permit to park a vehicle that is needed for the operational running of the school.

The proposals will also be discussed at a Cardiff Council environmental scrutiny committee meeting on Thursday January 11.