Parking restrictions are set to be added to more roads in Welwyn Garden City, with drivers banned from parking on verges and requiring parking permits. 

Under the plans, parking will be restricted to permit holders only on roads in part of Sherrards Ward between 9am and 3pm on weekdays, while Chequers in Hollybush Ward will also require permits between 9am and 5pm.

The roads affected in Sherrard’s ward will be Densley Close, Reddings, Roundwood Drive and Sherrards Park Road. Bans on verge parking and yellow lines at junctions will also be introduced across a significantly larger number of roads in both wards.

The changes come after multiple consultations from Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council. But, while the council’s cabinet planning and parking panel voted through the measures on Tuesday (19 November), some councillors questioned the wisdom of the changes.

Conservative Cllr Tony Kingsbury said he recognised the desire “to make sure parking is not on grass verges where possible” but added, “these people need to be able to park somewhere”.

Cllr Sunny Thusu added that “there are quite a lot of people against” the move and said: “This will just add more pressure to what’s already there.”

He suggested the council should “perhaps not necessarily listen to the few people who want something because they own one car and they don’t go out as much but think of all the other people who live there, who require one, two cars with families to move around or have businesses or can’t afford the extra charges.”

Cllr Thusu continued: “There’s a lot of people who don’t want this … I reckon if I went on Facebook and tried to find residents who live in [Sherrards ward] and said ‘are you in favour of parking permits being put in there’, I reckon I’d find quite a majority not for it.”

Deputy leader of the council Cllr Jane Quinton, on the other hand, said she thought the permit scheme “probably has overall consent” but was less sure about the verge parking issue.

She said: “The real problem with those areas that don’t want the verge protection orders is there is not enough parking for the way we live now compared to when the houses were built.

“There are also people who want to bring prams along the pavement, and there are disabled people who are potentially in danger.

“There are some parts of this … which seem to be a safety issue and would be welcome, I think, generally.

“We need to consider both the pedestrians and the residents who want to park there at the same time.

“It’s a very complex issue. Lots of people have different needs and different wants.

“But I think, on the whole, for the majority of the area, what has been proposed will satisfy most people.”

Geoff Sampson, the council’s assistant director for regeneration and economic development, said “significant parking issues” had been reported around Chequers, caused by nearby industrial areas.

Committee chair Cllr Russ Platt said a ward councillor had told him that residents of Chequers were “very, very keen” for the restrictions to go ahead.

Sherrards residents were surveyed back in October 2022, with 294 of 796 respondents raising verge parking as an issue. A later consultation on a permit system in February 2024 received 25 responses in favour and 18 against.

Residents in Hollybush ward were consulted in spring 2023 – but the consultation was extended and a reminder sent to households after an initial low response rate.

Twenty-eight per cent of households responded, and officers said there was particular support for a permit scheme in Chequers. 

Eliska Robova, parking services manager at the council, said there would be a six month monitoring period after the changes come into force, with residents able to give their feedback on how it operates in practice.