Cheltenham Zone 15 Parking Review Engagement

Have your say on the updated Cheltenham Zone 15 parking proposals by Friday, 27 September 

Welcome to the public feedback webpage for Gloucestershire County Council’s Cheltenham Zone 15 parking review.

Our independent consultant - Project Centre are undertaking a review of the Cheltenham Zone 15 parking.

Working alongside local people to ensure any parking controls are appropriate for the needs and uses of the community.

Our proposals

In July, we held two information gathering sessions to collect feedback as part of the Cheltenham Zone 15 parking review. Read about findings from these events here.

Using this feedback and the findings from on-site surveys, we’ve developed some draft concept designs for a refined scheme.

We now want to hear from community members and are asking you to provide feedback on the draft concept design proposals.

The main principles of these draft proposals are to:

• simplify the existing parking zone by reducing its size and creating two new areas to reflect the different characteristics of the area.
• provide operating times that better suit community need.
• better allocate bays so that they are more reflective of the needs and uses of each street.
• improve accessibility and visibility by reviewing the placement of bays.
• improve signage to ensure that the controls are clear and,
• reduce the number of different controls in each area to make it less confusing.

Suggested changes

When developing these draft designs, we considered public feedback as well as the findings of on-site surveys.

Some residents reported the existing scheme had made improvements, and our draft concept designs aim to retain what is working well, address implementation issues (such as signage placement) and address the key issues most commonly raised by local people.

As a result of this, some of the main changes we are proposing include:

• creating two parking zones, helping to reduce the size of area. These new zones will be known as Zone 15 and Zone 16.
• consulting on the operating times and days for restrictions
• repositioning bays at the intersection of Hewlett Road and Eldon Road
• introducing a Controlled Parking Zone to replace the current Permit Parking Area to standardise signage and road markings across the zones, helping to ensure everyone can easily understand where they can and cannot park
• improving visibility and accessibility at intersections and for property access by repositioning bays across the zones
• limiting parking for non-permit holders to a 2-hour maximum stay in the new Zone 15, to address additional parking pressures related to the town centre and hospital. The new Zone 16 will have maximum 4 hour stay in parking bays

Reducing the size of the area 

Feedback we received raised concerns about people driving across the zone to park nearer the town centre increasing pressure in some streets. Our onsite surveys also identified areas where parking pressure is an issue.

To help address this we are now proposing to split Zone 15 into two separate zones to better reflect the demand for parking and the availability of private off-road parking.

These new zones will be known as Zone 15 and Zone 16.

There are some similarities and key differences between the new zones which are detailed below. You can view the draft detailed design proposals CLICK HERE.

New Zone 15 - download a copy of the map

• During operational hours residents must park in marked parking bays which are signed as being for resident’s use.
• Marked parking bays will be available that allow parking and loading by a range of users, for example, Blue Badge holder parking.
• Maximum stay in parking bays will be 2 hours. This is to help address parking pressures related to the town centre and hospital. This does not apply to resident parking bays.
• Outside of operational hours, vehicles may also park on single yellow lines, if it is safe to do so.
• The supporting traffic signs within the bays will advise who can legitimately park in those locations and what the timings of the restrictions are.

New Zone 16 - download a copy of the map

• During operational hours residents must park in marked parking bays which are signed as being for resident’s use.
• Marked parking bays will be available that allow parking and loading by a range of users, for example, Blue Badge holder parking.
• Maximum stay in parking bays will be 4 hours. This does not apply to resident parking bays.
• Outside of operational hours, vehicles may also park on single yellow lines, if it is safe to do so.
• The supporting traffic signs within the bays will advise who can legitimately park in those locations and what the timings of the restrictions are.

In the new proposed zones, the boundaries to the east finish at Hales Road. This would mean that properties on Upper Park Street and Strickland Road that are currently in Zone 15 would no longer be included in any controlled parking zone within the new proposal.

Making the restrictions in the new zones easier to understand

To help make it clear we are proposing to standardise signage and road markings across the zones by introducing a controlled parking zone (CPZ).

Currently Zone 15 is a permit parking area (PPA). Unlike a CPZ, there is no requirement in a PPA to provide marked parking bays and supporting traffic signs to regulate parking.

By introducing a CPZ we aim to simplify the on-street parking restriction for residents and visitors, as drivers will only be able to park in marked bays during hours of operation.

Survey and events

We are now seeking your feedback on these draft proposals.

You have until midnight on Friday 27 of September to submit your feedback.

To have your say, you can respond to the survey here.

Take Survey

If you would like a hard copy of the survey, please contact the project team via email at consultation@projectcentre.co.uk.

Hard copies are also available for collection at:

• Cheltenham Borough Council Offices, Municipal Offices, Promenade, Cheltenham GL50 9SA
• All Saints Church, All Saints Road, Pittville, Cheltenham, GL52 2HG 
• Cheltenham Cricket Club, Princes Street, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL52 6BE 
• Cheltenham Library, Clarence St, Cheltenham GL50 3JT
• Berkhampstead School, Pittville Circus Rd, Cheltenham GL52 2QA School

In addition to the survey, you can also share your feedback by attending one of our in-person events:

Next steps 

Following the public engagement exercises, all feedback will be analysed and considered when creating final proposal plans, which will be used as part of a statutory Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) process.

A TRO is required to remove, amend or implement any waiting, loading or stopping restrictions and is subject to formal statutory public consultation.

At this stage, the community and wider public will be notified of the final proposals via onsite notices, on the council’s website, in the local newspaper and at accessible locations within Cheltenham. A period of time to make representations either in support of or against the proposals will be given. All representations will be duly considered when the council makes a decision on how to proceed.

Subject to the TRO decision, the council will look to launch implementation of the new restrictions in early 2025.

Contact us

If you have any questions relating to the review, please email consultations@projectcentre.co.uk

GDPR Statement

Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) is committed to protecting your privacy and we work in full compliance with Data Protection legislation. This survey has been created for those willing to provide their feedback on the proposals. The comments and information we receive will be reported on as part of the Engagement Report for this project. We will not use any personal data, such as your name and address, in the report. We will report on the relationship of participants with the area, but not at an individual level.

Your information will not be used or passed onto another third party for marketing purposes. ECF are ICO registered and will process personal information fairly and transparently, as required by data protection law, including the General Data Protection Act (GDPR) 2018. You have the right to access and update the data we have about you, and you can contact us regarding this at dpo@gloucestershire.gov.uk.

If you would like to read more about GCC’s Data Protection and Privacy Policy, you can find this here:  

www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/strategies-plans-and-policies/information-management-and-security-policies/data-protection-policies/data-protection-policy/