Concerns over parking safety on housing estates

Safety concerns have been raised over overcrowded parking on Westbury’s former council estates.

Cllr Rob Smith said he regularly received complaints from residents about parking pressures and had witnessed vehicles blocking others, sometimes leading to arguments.

“We are now faced with ever-increasing safety concerns where emergency vehicles would really struggle to get access to an individual house in the event of a fire or the need for access for an ambulance,” he said.

“As a resident myself of one of these estates, I regularly see vehicles blocking other vehicles, with regular rows breaking out over poor parking. I have also had complaints from key workers who have, on occasions, been blocked in and then spent valuable time knocking on doors to find the owner of the car blocking them in.”

Cllr Smith said many of the homes were built in the 1950s, when car ownership was far lower, and were not designed to accommodate the number of vehicles now owned by households.

He also attributed some of the pressure to adult children remaining in the family home because of high rents and difficulties getting a mortgage.

One possible solution would be to turn some of the grassed areas in front of homes into parking spaces, he said.

“1950s architects had the foresight to include large grass areas in front of many of these houses that could easily be redeveloped into useful parking areas,” he said.

However, Cllr Smith said proposals had been met with concerns about a lack of funding.

“My question is how long are the council and the housing associations willing to play Russian roulette with their tenants’ lives?” he said.

“If you are a resident who is affected by these issues, I implore you to please complain to the relevant body responsible for your property, as your voice needs to be heard if we are to get this problem resolved.”