Key themes and detailed responses
- Encouraging sustainable transport has not proved sufficient in changing habits and getting people out of their cars. Additional measures are needed to actively discourage private motor vehicle use
- Parking ‘demand’ is not the same as parking ‘need’
- Some of the poorest residents are most adversely affected by motorised vehicles and associated poor air quality, yet don’t often own a car themselves. Streets densely packed with cars also limit the space available for the council to install sustainable travel infrastructure and provide for these residents
- EVs are not a solution as they do nothing to reduce the actual number of vehicles on the road or requiring parking
- Garages are often no longer used to park vehicles in because of the need for storage or because the actual car is too big to fit comfortably. This puts extra pressure on on-street parking spaces and underlines the need to reduce overall number of vehicles
- Parking bays of the correct size should be marked out to reflect these larger car sizes both in residential areas and in car parks, thereby reducing the overall number of spaces but improving the quality of available parking. This might also mean bays can only be marked on one side of the street, further reducing the number of parked vehicles
- Consideration needs to be given to discouraging business owners from parking business vehicles in residential streets
- Parking infringements need to be penalised and the rules strongly enforced e.g. parking on double yellow lines, pavement parking, vehicles not fitting fully onto driveways and thereby partly blocking pavements. It’s not a ‘war on the motorist’. It is the council defending the right of wheelchair users, parents with buggies, visually impaired people and pedestrians to use the footway without being obstructed by selfish drivers
- The black dots/domes all over the city are a hazard for cyclists and pedestrians, as well as spoiling the look of heritage areas such as Grand Parade
- The dots are incorrectly spaced for modern vehicle size (or to allow for inconsiderate parking) so the app predicts 3 spaces are available when in fact it might only be 2
- Reliance on apps for parking excludes those who do not own a phone. Cash payment for parking must continue to be supported
Subjects and detailed responses
- Agree that certain residents have to use a private vehicle out of necessity either because of their work location or working hours. However, other residents use private cars not so much out of necessity but more for convenience
- Suggest increasing the cost for additional parking permits on a sliding scale to discourage multiple vehicle ownership. Include a rebate system for key workers who can demonstrate their need for a second vehicle
- Review the number and cost of permits granted to businesses e.g. a hotel should not have the same number of parking spaces as rooms as this encourages travel into the city by unsustainable means
- Price permits based on size/weight of vehicle and its emissions
- Consider a surcharge for those who have a garage but choose not to park their vehicle in it
- Park & Ride: extend operating hours into the evening to facilitate going for a meal / cinema trip. Allow overnight parking
- Residents can no longer get buses to / from hospitals, shopping centres and entertainment venues such as the King’s Theatre in the daytime and certainly not in the evening. There is no bus service to the Royal Mail collection depot on the airport site
- Better bus services could improve school run traffic and congestion (combined with strict enforcement of parking regulations)
- Portsmouth City Council needs to work with bus operators to make bus travel once again a viable alternative to driving. The £2 bus fare cap is very welcome, but in many cases, it still requires residents to walk some distance to catch their bus
- It is already Portsmouth City Council policy to prioritise these, but this now needs to be implemented more forcefully
