More Norfolk roads to get more parking restrictions

The changes - including more pay and display bays and permit zones - will be rolled out in a string of towns and villages, as well as Norwich neighbourhoods.

The measures are being introduced in areas where nuisance parking has been reported, and following requests for restrictions from residents.

However, the changes have already triggered controversy in some areas, with concerns they may harm local businesses.

Among the locations which will see new restrictions introduced are coastal areas which attract large numbers of summer tourists, such as Brancaster, Wells-next-the-Sea and Old Hunstanton.

Others are being introduced in areas of new housing on the outskirts of Norwich, like Cringleford and Trowse.

The changes, which could generate an annual income of around £600,000, are being introduced by Norfolk Parking Partnership - a collaboration between councils - in consultation with local town and parish councils.

Council officers said they would be happy to work with even more communities that want to have restrictions introduced.

Graham Plant, Norfolk County Council cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport (Image: Jamie Honeywood Archant Norwich Norfolk)

Cringleford Parish Council started trying to get restrictions five years ago - and they are due to begin this month.

Cringleford (Image: Mike Page)

The changes include the introduction of on-street parking charges in Colney Lane and restrictions on parking in Intwood Road, while double yellow lines will ban parking on a number of other streets.

Sonya Blythe, Cringleford Parish Council parish clerk (Image: Sonya Blythe)

Sonya Blythe, Cringleford's parish clerk, said: "We have had two separate areas where there have been issues and we had a lot of parishioners asking us for help.

"The problems in Colney Lane were with people working at the hospital or the University of East Anglia parking there all day, while the parking in Intwood Road was people at Cringleford Business Centre.

"In those areas, this has been very much what people want and they have supported it."

However, a move to introduce restricted parking zones and waiting restrictions on streets in Trowse has led to division in the village.

Trowse (Image: Denise Bradley)

The parish council had asked Norfolk County Council to look into restrictions to tackle commuter and football parking issues.

But some villagers are campaigning to stop it, saying it will hit pubs and businesses.

On the county's coast, where communities say visitors often clog their streets with cars, discussions are under way over parking restrictions in Brancaster and Old Hunstanton.

Parking restrictions could be introduced in Brancaster (Image: Chris Bishop)

Council bosses have also had early talks about parking management on streets in Wells-next-the-Sea and resident permit zones in Diss.

And County Hall officers are also identifying possible locations for more resident permit zones in Norwich in areas suffering from parking issues.

A list of potential sites will be drawn up in the summer, with initial consultations starting in the autumn.

Council officers said those are likely to be in areas suffering from current parking issues.

READ MORE: New on-street parking charges could be rolled out in Norfolk

Ian Gregory, a parking official at County Hall, said: "We are hoping to be able to extend this very positive work through future engagement with other towns and parishes, where they still have many long-standing legacy parking issues or they haven't had a review of parking or traffic management in recent years.

"My colleagues and other officers would be very keen to work with any communities wanting to review their parking arrangements."

Norfolk Parking Partnership generated more than £3m in 2022/23 from on-street parking charges, residents' permits and penalty notices.

Council bosses say the money generated goes back into the parking partnership and is used to cover the spending on enforcement, maintenance and back office costs.

At a recent meeting where the extension of the scheme was discussed, Graham Plant, the county council's cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport, asked officers whether the new schemes would generate extra money for the partnership.

Mr Gregory said the council had a "better idea" of how much would be generated at the "more mature schemes", such as Trowse and Cringleford than some of the newer projects.

But he said: "We think this year there could be in the region of £150,000 additional income, perhaps half a million the year after and maybe over £600,000 net income in the following two years."