Cheltenham Zone 15 parking review – engagement outcomes and next steps

649 submissions were received from the consultation, this includes those submitted via the online platform and hard copy.  

What we asked residents about: 

• Creating two new areas to better manage parking and simplify the existing zone. 
• Changing operating times and days to better suit community needs. 
• Allocating parking bays to reflect the needs of each street. 
• Improving accessibility and visibility by reviewing bay placements. 
• Improving signage for clearer controls. 
• Reducing the number of different controls to make it less confusing. 

What you said and what we will do: 

• Creating a new zone 16: 57% disagreed. We will not proceed with this. 
• Changing operating days: in proposed Zone 16, 47% agreed to reduced days. In proposed Zone 15, 42% wanted to keep days the same. We will reduce days in the north and keep them the same in the south. 
• Changing operating times: in proposed Zone 15, 42% wanted to keep times the same. In proposed Zone 16, 18% supported the current timings. We will reduce times in the north and keep them the same in the south. 
• Placement of parking bays: 31% had concerns with the placement of bays. We will review these concerns in the final design. 
• Event day restrictions: 31.6% said parking is a problem on event days, with 39% supporting event day restrictions. We will introduce event day restrictions in the north near Cheltenham Town’s football stadium. 
• Additional comments: sentiment from the northeast said a parking scheme was not needed. We will remove resident parking controls from those streets listed below. 

What we have already done: 

• We have relaxed the return to zone restriction, it is now return to street 
• Held five face-to-face consultation events in the zone to understand how the scheme works for the community 
• Worked with local businesses to support them with managing parking at their premises 

• Given residents a free three-month extension to their resident permits to support them with the scheme introduction

• Refunded any visitor permits that were used prior to December 2023, as a gesture of goodwill due to the delayed implementation of the zone. 

Next steps: 

• Operating times: north of Zone 15 will be Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm. South of Zone 15 will remain Monday – Sunday, 8am – 8pm. 
• Match day restrictions: implemented in the north near Pittville Circus Road. 
• Localised changes: we will make changes to parking bays, signs, and road markings based on feedback. 
• Removing restrictions: we will remove permit zone restrictions on Eldon Road, Eldon Avenue, Beechurst Avenue, Oak Manor Drive, All Saints Terrace, sections of Hale’s Road and Hewlett Road, and Teme Road. 

Cllr Stephan Fifield, Deputy Leader of Gloucestershire County Council, said: “We’ve tried to ensure as many people who live in the area were actively engaged with this review as possible, including online and face to face ways to feedback. We really appreciate the time that everyone has taken to let us know how they feel, and we would like to reiterate our apology for the way this has been handled historically."

He continued: “We fully appreciate that we’ll never come up with a solution that pleases everyone, but we have been driven by the data and the feedback we’ve received and feel that this is a strong compromise solution. We’re also very grateful to the divisional member in this area – Cllr Hay who has worked closely with the project team to bring forward and support this solution.” 

Cllr Colin Hay, county councillor for All Saints and Oakley, said: “This second round of engagement has been much more comprehensive and more effective in getting residents views to design the changes to the scheme. I’m pleased to see the use of Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) being used; this will allow residents to see how the changes will affect them. It also allows changes to be made before the order is made permanent and hopefully this will work well.”  

Implementation: 

• Changes will be made via an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO), which can last up to 18 months. This allows the community to see the impact before permanent adoption. 
• The new scheme will start in early 2025, with updates to line markings and signage and will be reviewed in the initial 6 months of operation