Residents in St Catherine Street, Ventnor – and the surrounding roads – are fighting the proposal by the Isle of Wight council to remove all parking from the road with more than 200 residents signing a petition in objection.
As reported by News OnTheWight in October, the latest Traffic Regulation Order review for the area (District 5), revealed that Isle of Wight council are recommending to extend the existing parking restrictions “to allow emergency and waste vehicle access in this very narrow lane”.
This equates to the loss of around 30 parking spaces, with five that are disabled bays, if the traffic order is approve by the council’s Cabinet.
Peace: Keep up the fight
News OnTheWight spoke to the local councillor, Gary Peace (Con), who told us that the proposal is expected to go before the Cabinet meeting in March 2023, and that he’d been told the residents’ views would be be taken into consideration.
He said it was important to keep up the fight to save the parking spaces, which if removed would have a huge impact on not only the surrounding roads, but also St Catherine Street itself, potentially becoming a rat run, changing the character and safety of the road.
The petition
Local resident, Amanda Isbitt, has organised a petition and has been busy knocking on doors collecting signatures.
If you’d like to sign the petition to object to the street’s parking bays being removed, you can find paper copies in town at London House and Ventnor Post Office, whilst on the seafront there are copies to sign in The Spyglass Inn and The Met Bar.
The petition must be signed before 10th December, as this is when Cllr Peace will be presenting it to the Isle of Wight council.
Online survey
The Isle of Wight council’s online form to collect comments on any of the proposed changes in Ventnor appears to still be open.
If you missed the 28th October and wish to still have your say, head over to the SurveyMonkey form to add your comments.
Article edit
2.10pm 20th Nov 2022 – Link to form added
