<<Back to index

Comment | Read Comments (151)

Why should I have to pay extra just to park outside my own home?

Why can other places park on their roads for free while those of us near the city centre will have to pay just to do the same?

free parking for residents

free parking for city residents

look to your seats in the next election

If the Council could guarantee me a parking space outside my house, then I would consider it, but as it's not permit holders only, why should residents pay? We pay road and council tax - isn't that enough?

What about all the areas around Dale road, norham avenue, vine road, coxford road, laundry road etc...... 1st car free 2nd car £50?

We already pay road tax, so why should some people be able to park near their homes for free while others must pay?

Some thoughtless people think that they can arrive outside someone's home, park all day and then go when they have finished their work.These people are selfish morons and never consider any one else who may have need to visit.

I live just outside the current permit boundary, thankfully,but imagine I'll get sucked into paying for this new scheme. This is just another way for the council to get money from us all.

Don't we pay enough to use our Cars as it is?

another tax why should i be penalised for living in town,i live here so i dont have to drive so much! muppets

I'm certain Portswood will be one of the areas affected, and bearing in mind how much I pay in car tax and fuel duty, I think this is obscene!!

This is so stupid. We pay car tax and then council tax on top and just cos i dont have the extra money on top to afford a garage or drive way i have to pay!

I am one of the lucky ones who has a drive in my area but my neighbours have now had to take the drastic action to concrete their front gardens to get their cars off the road. This is just one more mad game from a council who don't seam to be able to control their budgets. There are better ways to get cars off the roads in the city centre. Try getting buses to go where we want to go at a price which is realistic to the journey for a start. What happened to the tram idea, or the over head monorail? They got binned because the council couldn't put a case together which everyone could agree to. I say sack the lot of them and bring in people who have a bit of common sense. Like year 3 at any primary school.....

If, and only IF it comes to fruition, DON'T PAY IT. Let's say it's £50 to start with, what happens the next year? £75-£80-£100? If WE ALL stick together what can happen?

free parking for residents.

What a disgrace! the councillors who have made the most noise about this- Baston and Richard Williams both live in big houses in Highfield with off street parking. Typical socialist hypocrites. At election time I sincerely hope that the voters remember this and vote these people out. Why not contact Alec Samuels and get a pledge that the Tories will scrap these plans if elected? God I hope they are. Shame on anyone who votes Labour or Lib Dem in May.

I pay high road tax and high council tax. The services I am receiving are getting less and less! Paying to park outside of my own property on top of all other taxes is daylight robbery. Incidentally, will the councillors that thought of this idea also be paying to park their own cars outside of their houses?

I am against this policy and I hope people will show their opposition at the next election - blimey, I might even have to vote Tory. Urgh...

often we cannot park in the residents parking zone outside of our house now!

I am cant believe these people, with there big ideas. At election time I sincerely hope that the voters remember this and vote these people out. out out out

we just want to park outside our house

I know who I WON'T be voting for in May!!!!!!

Pay enough as it is.

The elections are in May.

I'm lucky enough to be in a position where I can just ensure I always have off-road parking, but this is a disgrace. The motorist pays enough in taxes already, it's not particularly fair that all of a sudden they find they're paying even more

its just plain stupid pay enough just to own a car dont need this.

The council proposals for resident's parking in this area will make things even worse.They want to reduce existing street parking which will not help anyone who lives around here.

Signing the petition!!

AS YOU CAN SEE I LIVE IN WALES AND VISIT MY FAMILY IN SOUTHAMPTON HOW DO I PARK THEN,THIS IS JUST ANOTHER TAX ON MOTORIST'S AS EVERYONE KNOWS I WONDER HOW MANY COUNCILORS WILL BE AFFECTED ?

The council need to do some maths. How many cars per household? There seems to be to many students in this area with too many cars. I have nothing against students.

I would like to sign the petition. I don't want to pay to park outside my home.

When the fat cats in charge of the council pay then so will I...............

Free parking for city residents. What a disgrace asking people to pay for permits.

[bold]bold[/bold] my mum and dad have permit parking in there road in the warren area for residents which is a total waist of time because if you have a visitor you are suppose to put a ticket in your car and the time limit is 2 hrs parking with no return but the council doesn't keep a check on this so you can have people park up and go to work allday and not get booked for no permitt so why should they pay £50 a year for a permit to park if it is not going to be inforced.getting all the family to sign petition

It is a disgrace that Southampton residents should be charged to park anywhere in the city but to try to charge someone to park outside their own home is beyond all comprehension. The sooner that this council is booted out the better for all of us.

If those of you with garages or off-road parking used them for your cars rather than have them filled with junk then the streets wouldn't be cluttered with parked cars, thus avoiding the need to pay for a permit and would even save on your car insurance.

Change the Council. Use your Vote. They will listen.

More charges for less services - We cannot accept any more blatant profiteering. The motorist pays far too much as it is.

pay car tax and fuel tax....now a parking tax pay council tax and pay extra for having your bin emptied....someones having a laugh at our expense

This charge is too sudden and unexpected and there has not been enough consultation. When most homes in the city centre were occupied by families there was less pressure on parkings spaces. The spread of HMOs and new build flats has added to the parking problem in recent years.

why should people have to pay to park in front of there own houses, there are all ready enough taxs, everything gose up, but not the wages, i have a drive but still get blocked in or cant get in, i have my nan at home whos in a wheel chair, but becouse we have a drive we cant even have a disabled space out side our own house, she cant get in the car when it is in the drive as there is not enought room, so i have to park down the rd normaly, just up the rd there are permit holders which dose work very well, but of course now every one from students to school runs and people visiting the doctors surgury park in our bit of rd,i dont agree with paying to park out side your own hose, why dont they build more car parks to cater for the city, they keep exspanding in the city but not thinking of where people can park.

[bold]just another way of the goverment to extract money out of our pocket (give you more in one hand and take even more out of the other)[/bold]

Like the proverbial ostrich, head in the sand, knee jerk reaction and to boot a very profitable one at that... definitely not in the interests of residents. What [bold]bold[/bold] exactly do the residents get for their parking charge?. The right to do something that they currently do free of charge.

I will sign the petition because I can see that in the future there will be an effort by the Council to extend this highway robbery to parts of the City away from the centre. As it is, it's difficult for some people to park near their homes because there are rather a lot of commercial vans (size Transit and up) who take up an awful lot of space but there is little we can do about that because, of course, we don't own the piece of road outside our homes. Although I do think these useless Community Police could check the number of larger vehicles which are parked on the corner of the various roads in this area, thus obstructing the view left and right of those merging from the side roads.

Living in the city centre doesn't mean you are on a high income than those in other areas of the city. Why should we pay to park outside our homes when people in places like Bassett and Highfield don't? There's no logic to it, other than a quick way to make some money.

I totally disagree with having to pay to park outside my own house and whilst everyone outside the centre may be thinking "I'm alright Jack" it seems to me it may start in the centre and spread outwards (as in London). If the council needs to subsidise residential parking and if they are trying to pander to the green agenda by reducing cars on the roads what about first pass free, second pass not an automatic right only given in exceptional circumstances and charged a premium (?£100). Then the minority with two cars plus per house pay and not everyone. (and i agree with sally, I am a nurse and not on a high income!)

I dont want to pay, nor my guests to pay, to park outside my house.

alan, coxford who cames up with these daft ideas,the same people who have put parking meters opposite the general in coxford road,another money making scheme,makes a good bottle neck, the roads not wide enough for parking both sides. we have been trying to get the council to sort out hospital workers using visiters permits to park in the coxford area but they dont want to know, if its got no profit at the end of the day they are not interested. once they get away with charging how much is it going to be in the years to come.

When they campaigned for resident parking zone near General Hospital why did they not tell the people that it will cost them X amount of money for having a car? It is just another tax under different name. Our political class should be oprn and honest about it.

They've been in power 5mins and this is all they can come up with, a stealth tax... well done to the coalition for coming up with an election losing policy... can't wait for May.

We pay road tax for a reason and it looks to me as if the road tax is not used to look after the roads. People in europe have lovely roads. We have to get our tyres tracked and ballanced every 5 minutes to make our cars road worthy!!!!

Why should we pay to park down our own road?!F'ing joke we all pay enough tax as it is!!

[quote][bold]Sheitma Pance[/bold] wrote: What a load of arrogant people! Why the heck should you be allowed to park on a piece of land (road) that you don't own and not pay anything??! If someone wanted to park on your private land, you'd expect them to pay! Why is this any different??! Cough up and shut up![/quote] lol No we don't 'own' the road but we have all paid a lot of money for its upkeep and the right to use it. Who is talking about parking on private land anyway? Nothing to do with the so-called PUBLIC highway. I do sympathise with those who live in high density areas where parking near to the home is difficult if no garage/drive is available. This problem has arisen because of the surge in car ownership and high traffic levels, greedy carpark charges that force some city workers to find an all day spot. It's going to get worse..........

It's bad enough paying over £1000 Council Tax without adding another £100 to that for parking my cars outside my house.Even after paying for permits there's no garantee you can even park on your street let allow outside your house. No wonder the council are approving new flat developements without sufficent off road parking they can then fleece money out of those residents to park on already crowded streets.

My mother (who is in her 70's) lives in the Inner Avenue and can very rarely park outside or near to her home. The house next door is home to three students, who all have cars and all have parking permits. Their cars are not moved from one week to the next. My point here is that their house is issued with three free permits, my mother's house is issued with one, so my brother (who lives with my mother) has to pay for the second permit. Does this mean that my mother will have to pay for her permit and still not be able to park anywhere near her home? Not fair if you ask me.

Well I live in a parking zone with no off street parking and use my car about oncea week at the most. I see no reason why there should be a charge as why should people in Millbrook and Thornhill help fund the cost of enforcement. When I was in Bath in 1996 the cahrge was £200 pa so a small fee is no hardship. If it makes some people consider not owining a car all the better.

[bold]bold[/bold] Why should we pay parking when we pay council tAX WHICH SHOULD COVER THIS ANYHOW. Bloody cheek of the council

This may be starting in the city centre but you can guarantee it'll be spreading outwards as soon as the council realise how much extra cash they can make out of this. There are parking issues all over Southampton because they've allowed so many flats to be built without any thought for where the cars are going to go. Why should we all be punished because of their blatent greed?

Just doesn't seem right

As residents of the Polygon area, we were first given parking permits (two per house) to stop football suppoters, commuters and shoppers from blocking us out of our own streets. When car ownership became more widespread, a small working groupo was asked if this provision could be reduced to one permit per house. This has been very successful as it means that every car owner in our near city centre location can at least find a parking place reasonably near home. Living in terraced Victoriana, we have no means of creating drives or garages. We do a crucial job in keeping our community alive and helping keep the streets free of crime and rubbish. We are horrified that instead of rewarding us for our community work, the Council is now proposing to effectively increase our Council Tax when they admit permit parking does not cost much to run. It is totally unfair that citizens who are least able to pay should be targeted in this way.

Can't see any benefits at all for the homeowner within the council's proposal.

Completely ridiculous suggestion. Just shows the contempt the council have for the voters.

Another ridiculous idea by these buffoons. They make me sick.

This is an utter disgrace to penalise residents when our Council Tax is high enough as it is!

Taking money from people because they park within the proper parking scheme for the city, designed by residents for residents, is avoiding the real issues. People commuting into the city in long queues waste their money and time, people parking on pavements because they can't walk 20 metres to the shops block pedestrians, people who speed at 90kph along city roads at night and people who drive along bus lanes in the city, cheat on everyone else. But, taxing citizens of Southampton who park outside their own flat or house is easy. But it does not fix the REAL traffic problems. Easy money; No solutions ?

Parking should be free for residents, but in the city centre the situation is worse: even if you pay, you cannot park for more than 2 hours during charging times.

These proposed charges do not affect us YET but they will, I am sure, so on behalf of all those of us who pay HUGE road fund licence to fund the roads, I object most strongly to the whole thing.

i live in the city centre and i have to pay for parking for both mine and my partners car at car park rates without any chance of getting a permit, this costs us over £100 a weak despite that 1 car is not parked during the charging hours, this is making us struggle to pay for other essential things, but we can't afford to get rid of a car either for work reasons, we're stuck in a catch 22 situation and something should be done.

Nice one echo.

[quote][bold]Sensor SHip[/bold] wrote: Nice one echo.[/quote] I agree. Well done for standing up for motorists.

I take it planning permission for new developments in the city centre will have to have parking for each new resident or will that mean even more on street lucrative parking funds ? Rock on Daily Echo !!

Looks like another stealth tax to me. Surely road tax should cover this.

Disgraceful and blatant way of filling the council coffers. [bold]Did you know[/bold] - Your local businesses (shop, chippy etc) is charged a great deal more - most of them pay council tax (if they live on the premises) + business rate + refuge charge + £250 per vehicle per year with no visitor passes.

we live in warren ave by the hosptal we have two cars we pay rent and dont see why we have to pay to park when people and sgh staff park outside are house for free day times we cant park outside we pay tax for are cars if they dont like us parking outside are house when we will put in a drive way and send the bill to them to pay to stop all the parking outside the hosptal get the hosptal to put in more parking places they are buying placeies round here and puting in more buildings not parking

If this is brought in for the city centre area, how long before it will cover the whole of Southampton ? And of course the charge will creep up like the council tax. My 2 children bought cars because the buses they needed to catch, to get to work, more often than not failed to turn up. If the council insists on turning family housing into huge blocks of flats with inadequate parking then there will be parking problems on the street. Housing was in the city centre long before everyone needed a car so why should people have to pay to park outside there own house ? Perhaps our forward thinking council would like to bring back horse and carts and get rid of the "evil" car.

Typical of how the British Public are being pushed to the limit concerning the cost of living,everything has a price ticket put on it and the good old joe public is STUNG once again.It's no wonder people are leaving the UK in droves,what chance have you of earning a living when you all you do is pay out.Time to STOP give something back to the people,ENOUGH is ENOUGH.(yours so fed up,as are many)

I think the whole thing is an utter disgrace. Paying to park your car outside your house (i wish) isn'n bad enough, there aren't enough spaces and you have no choice but to park on double yellow lines and end up with a parking ticket at 8 in the morning! Disgusting. We pay enough.

could some kind councilor let me know, if i have to pay for my disabled bay, that i use outside of my council house in inner avenue, perhaps he or she will have enough inteligence to work out, that i live on a very limited income, and do not own a posh house...but i dont suppose anyone has thought of that.....this council is the most money grabbing petty minded lot of individuals its ever been my misfortune to live under.. but you know what folks we can do something about it...dont vote for them[bold]bold[/bold]

I live very near the general and did beleive I had to have a permit due to the amount of hospital workers parking down my street so the parking attendands could issue tickets to people who were not residents, seems like yet another stealth tax!!

This needs to be opposed as this will spread to all parts of the city. Councillors need to be aware of one fact, they are voted in and can be easily voted out.

[quote][bold]n w barter[/bold] wrote: look to your seats in the next election[/quote] The problem is that people still vote for the same idiots to run our City. Our Councillors are rubbish yet they keep returning. I was informed by a friend just before the last election that one of the Councillors who is a part-owner of a pub in Town was barred from his own premises because he was caught with his hands in the till (not sure if literally!) but this was not reported by the newspapers and he was reelected. I was standing in the election at the time and I found it disgusting how our media wouldn't report on this when public funds are in the hands of these people. I'm standing again this year but I won't be elected. Because of public apathy, our money is being wasted on crap and we can't do much about it.

The council want to charge city residents to park yet are digging up green spaces and concreting them over on the estates to allow tenants to park. Are we city residents being charged to allow them to park or are the council going to be even handed and charge Thornhill/Millbrook/ Lordshill/Western residents to park as well?

This is a stupid idea and once again a way of gaining more funds for the council to use badly.

so what party do we vote for in the local elections?

[bold]bold[/bold] Pay enough taxes already without having to pay to park outside my own home

I have off road parking but still do not agree with Southampton introducing this. They have not done enough over the years in providing sufficient parking to new build flats or businesses and have not done enough with a decent transportation system that would reduce the number of cars in the city. This is just a money making system that they do not deserve to benefit from!

Well where I live on Wilton Ave in a block of flats, we have one space in our carpark for seven flats only. Residents only which is fair enough but when people visit there is no where to park. We have double yellow lines all round flats and we are not entitled to parking bays or permits. So when people visit they get an automatic fine for parking outside. STUPID !!

This is a non-story. There is [bold]now[/bold] no plan to introduce this charge although the previous Conservative administration was considering it. The Echo knows this but is running this political campaign for reasons best known to itself.

As a taxi-driver I need to park outside my home so that A.I can keep an eye on my car because if it gets broken into I doubt if the police would even turn up to investigate.B. The taxi must be kept clean so how do I do that with the car parked elsewhere.And surely the motorist pays enough in direct taxtion without indirect taxtion.And what will the extra revenue be spent on, better pensions,fact finding trips to somewhere hot. how about a nice booze up at xmas for the selected few,the list is endless.Why not think of the residents for a change

The sheer incompetence displayed by this council reaches ever more startling levels every day. This latest "gem" just provides another example of how out-of-touch with residents needs and opinions the councillors are (and let's not forget who puts them there in the first place!) I wonder if a single one of them has considered the potential impact on areas outside the scheme, where I am quite sure you will find drastically increased congestion, as those who are unfortunate to find themselves covered by the charging scheme attempt to find parking in a non-chargeable areas. Unless of course the council intends to blanket-cover the entire Southampton area by this ridiculous idea! Not everyone has the luxury of their own private drive or allocated parking (I'm lucky that I do, but my neighbours do not). Come on council - wake up and get into the real world, or be prepared for a shock at the elections in just over a month.

Where are all the new residents in the new build in Winchester Road going to park? Probably in our road, which is already full of sub-let houses and people that cannot or will not try to park sensibly. We did not agree with the parking permit idea in the first place, and where does all our community tax go to, certainly not on maintaining the roads, drainage etc in Shirley, come to think of it, what will the money be used for if they do go ahead with this stupid idea. Probably funding the resurfacing of their nice driveways. I know who I shall vote for in the next elections.

[quote][bold]Gladstone[/bold] wrote: This is a non-story. There is [bold]now[/bold] no plan to introduce this charge although the previous Conservative administration was considering it. The Echo knows this but is running this political campaign for reasons best known to itself.[/quote] Well seeing as just last week the CURRENT cabinet approved plans to allow them to charge, I don't think that's quite the case. Unless of course, the council has seen the backlash and browned its trousers. Anywho, you're obviously either a) a councillor trying to further their political agenda but too scared to put your name to what you're saying or b) a council worker, who is also too scared to come clean about who you are.

This idea was obviously thought up by the same individual who suggested putting laser beams on the Civic Centre Clock Tower! What other grandiose ideas will the council think up next? Perhaps releasing herds of Elephants and Bison on the Common, or banning cars from the M27...?

Ref pay to park on street,residents give them a shock in May & get em out of office! Ref Dave Monk,s letter wed.26 March WELL SAID but unfortunately same council are ANTI-LORRY/CAR. Can we stick together & vote them out?

The powers that are "running" our towns and villages must accept that the private car/transport is here to stay and we the public MUST be able to park at our homes.

Are we going to take this lying down or, are we going to stand together and fight this ridiculous plan? All to often we are being taxed one way or another! Is it time for a revolution? Not just on this issue but on all the other issues being thought up by local and central government! We as BRITISH people are being swept under the carpet to make it more more appealing for immigrants ( sorry migrant workers) to come to this country and claim benefits and housing that hard working BRITISH people are struggling to get. This country already has one of the highest rates of tax and they want more! How long can we let this go on?? NO to pay to park. Next election vote these idiots out! ( only to put another set of idiots in). It is a no win situation. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

The goverment and local goverment take from the poor, familys and elderly and give nothing back. Soon you will have to pay just to walk to your car. Its about time the local goverment stop spending our money on there pensions, holidays, cars and houses and done something for us. Fix the road surfaces, homes for people that have lived here ALL their lifes. My husband had back surgery and I had a baby that was 6 months old and we was in a top floor flat, with no lifts and I turned to the local council for help because I could not cope. I had letters from the doctors and health visters and the council said tough. This is not helping local people. The MPS have big house and big cars. Do they have to pay full council tax like us normal people. Will they have to pay to park on there drive ways. They don't know whats it like not to struggle to pay for there water, Gas, Electric, Food, Council tax, Road tax because we are the ones that are paying for it in the long run. I think its about time to kick them OUT.

Southampton City Council are discrimanating against people who are unable to park off road, (there's a law about that...) maybe the council would like to pay for some dropped kerbs and some tarmac on my front garden........

As I live on the corner of two roads and can park on neither how are they going to charge me??

Most of the inner city houses are old back to back terraces with no front garden, driveway etc etc. In my street no one has any choice but to park on the road. Maybe the council wants to drive all the inner city residents out and replace the beautiful old houses with even more flats? In an age where we are being encouraged to live in brownfield and inner city areas (rather than building on yet more greenfield land such as chandlers ford and hedge end) should we not be taking measures to encourage rather than discourage inner city living?

This is not a parking charge to park outside our homes which is what it is always reported as, it is a tax to keep a vehicle on the road somewhere. THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT A PARKING SPACE WILL BE AVAILABLE OUTSIDE YOUR HOUSE!

This road is currently used as a hospital car park. Despite the 1 hour limit cars regularly park for up to 8 hours (free) without receiving a parking ticket because there is no regular monitoring by traffic wardens. Interestingly traffic wardens are seen regularly around the hospital in areas where parking meters have been installed - I wonder why?!

The idea of charging for parking permits is a means to penalise residents who do not have the luxury of off road parking. I often have to park several streets away from my home even with residents parking, if I have to pay for it will the council guarantee a parking space for me!

Just another example of how much Labour and the Liberal Democrats are out of touch with Southampton residents.

HIGHWAY ROBBERY

I am A Labour supperter but the May eilitoc i may hava to protest if this maddness kepps up

At least Dick Turpin wore a mask!, Not only do the motorist pay the highest cost's in Europe for fuel, road tax and car insurance... along with speed cameras and other ways of extracting money from the easy target called the MOTORIST but not paying to park outside you own home is a joke. What next i ask

We can't get a permit for our second car (even though we are quite happy to pay £50) because both cars are registered in my name, although both are registered to our address (no off road parking). The Council is not interested and say we must park where there is no permit parking. Where? Great with young children!!!What happens when more permit parking?[quote]quote[/quote]

yet another tax.

I can't even get a permit to park outside my own house. The council put up bollards so I can't park in my driver/garden. The nearest council car park costs £300 odd pound to park there... PER WEEK!!! Ridiculous!!!

If I could be guaranteed parking outside my flat that would potentially be worth paying for, but what with VAT, Income tax, National Insurance, road tax and council tax, I think the govt in one way or another gets enough out of my hard-earned

Use your brains for once and come up with a proper solution.

Free Parking for residents, we pay enough council tax, car tax etc - but to be charged to park outside your own house as well! its hard enough to park out side my own house as it is with out having to pay for it as well!! What happens if i pay for a permit and still cant find a space???

It's outrageous that this has even been considered! What a farce. Whatever will they think of next?

It's an absolute Joke, i'd like to know if the council will fund extra policeing to deal with the agro caused by people parking in places that residents have paid for????? it's bound to happen, if i'd paid to park my car outside my home and someone took it upon themselves to park in my space i don't think i'd be very happy, would you!!!!!!

This proposal is beyond all sane understanding ! We are cur