Parkstone residents' anger over council's yellow line decision (From Thisisdorset)

Parkstone residents' anger over council's yellow line decision

5:00pm Sunday 27th May 2012 in News By Harriet Marsh

OPPOSITION: Kate Revuelta, front, with a petition from fellow residents of Churchill Gardens

ANGRY residents say a council error denied them the chance to properly protest against double yellow lines on their road.

Neighbours from sixteen of the 20 households on Churchill Gardens, in Parkstone, signed a petition objecting to the proposals.

They waited patiently to see the item appear on a local area committee meeting agenda, when a decision would be made.

But it never did, and this week they found out it was a done deal along with parking restrictions for six other roads.

Mum-of-three Kate Revuelta, 35, said: “When we handed the petition in we were told they would make sure it was considered at the meetings.

“We kept looking at the agendas and the next thing we know, a few residents have got letters saying it’s been decided.”

She has made a formal complaint and is informing the local government ombudsman.

Residents argue parking is already limited as most houses don’t have a drive, and the two parking bays are used for visitors.

Mrs Revuelta, who works at Tesco, added: “They will end up parking in Churchill Road, which is already busy enough.

“The council say it is because of the fire brigade but there are roads much narrower than ours in Parkstone.

“They’ll have to do the lot. It’s completely unnecessary, it’s only a little cul de sac.”

New Road, Cromwell Road, Beaconsfield Road, Beresford Road, Douglas Road and Cooke Road were also decided on April 25, without featuring online.

Poole council says the correct agenda was displayed on the Civic Centre foyer noticeboard, meeting legal requirements, but the information was not loaded on to its website.

Dorset Fire and Rescue Service, bin men and a resident raised concerns about access.

Steve Dean, senior traffic engineer, said: “The committee recognised that emergency access could be required at any time, and approved the double yellow lines to be sure that emergency access would always be available.”

Branksome West councillor Phil Eades said: “It is not good enough that the item was missed off the online agenda. We ought to be informing people what we’re talking about.”

He said representatives from Cromwell Road were present to speak and that a resident initially raised the parking issue, while the fire brigade agreed.

“It would be utterly irresponsible to ignore the professionals,” he added.