Those who live on Princes Avenue, near Hessle Square, are fed up with not being able to park on their own street, with one resident being fined for blocking her own driveway.
Residents of Princes Avenue near Hessle Square are struggling to find places to park on their street(Image: Submitted)
A street that has become a parking nightmare has left one resident feeling “anxious” and “drained” after being unable to park near her Hessle home. The resident, who bought the home on Princes Avenue in December, says she “doesn’t know what she’s coming home to” and is regularly sworn at by people who block her driveway.
One day, she counted 25 people who parked across her driveway in order to donate to the nearby Dove House Hospice charity shop. Yet, when she blocked her own driveway due to construction work taking place on her property, she was issued a ticket. She contested the ticket but it was upheld by East Riding of Yorkshire Council.
She says she is now “anxious” every time she comes home because of what she may be met with, including visitors swearing at her. Excuses include: “I’m donating to charity”, “it’s none of your business” or “I can park where I like”. The resident, who did not want to be named, bought the house on Princes Avenue, which is around the corner from Hessle Square, in December last year.
She said: “It’s been quite stressful. When we moved in, the neighbours told us to be mindful of parking, but I must’ve aged 10 years since I’ve lived here. It’s the first home we’ve bought, you can imagine how excited we were. Now, I come home anxious because I don’t know what I’m coming home to. People are swearing at me and you think ‘when is this going to end?’ It’s so draining, it’s awful.”
She says her street is constantly lined with cars that belong to people who work at local businesses in the town, and opt to park on the residential street during work hours. That, mixed with a constant stream of people parking up to donate to the hospice shop, on the corner of Princes Avenue and Hull Road, makes parking near to her home “impossible” during the day.
She said: “We don’t really have a street during the day. I parked across my drive the other week because I’m having some work done, and there was nowhere else to park. I put a sign in the window only to come out an hour later to a ticket for parking across my drive. I know they are trying to do their job, but there was a sign there, and they’ve declined my appeal. Given the fact there’s nowhere to park, everyone is allowed to park down our street. It seems to have got progressively worse.”
She hopes East Riding of Yorkshire Council will implement measures to restrict all day parking on her street. There are grassed verges, which could be filled in with bollards as a deterrent. She said: “If you just get rid of the grass, you’re not going to deter anyone. It’s a constant conveyor belt of traffic. Come and see the square, we want that, but don’t fill the street for hours. The street further down has got restrictions.
“The neighbours have been going for this for years, but the council are just saying they don’t have the funds to do it. But you pay for residents’ parking so there’s money there.
“We’d like residents’ parking and I’d like them to put some bollards on the greenery so people can’t pull on and exploit the rules. They need a parking bay on the other side of the road for people who use the Dove House shop.
“We pay council tax and I feel like they are not doing their job. When my husband comes home from work, if I park on the drive, there’s nowhere for him to park. Businesses are being prioritised in a residential area.
“By the time I get back from the school run, the street’s full. There is parking a short walk away. Cars stay there until 5pm or 6pm. Visitors have nowhere to go and have to park three streets down. It should be across the board in Hessle that everyone is supported with residents’ parking.”
Liberal Democrat councillor for Hessle, John Boville, said: “I’ve requested a meeting with senior officers and all people concerned, including the owner and manager of the Dove House Hospice shop on the corner. It’s not just one concerned resident. There was a petition last year and other residents calling for some sort of residents’ parking.
“It’s a cul-de-sac and it’s close to the square, so it’s popular with people who are shopping, and people who are working in the town centre. That’s a difficult problem.” He said East Riding of Yorkshire Council tends to opt for controlled parking zones, rather than residents’ parking, where visitors have a maximum of two hours to park. However, there hasn’t been a new controlled zone introduced in “many years”. That would be a good solution,” he said, “but if it’s just for Princes Avenue then all day parkers will just move on to the next street along, so it has to be a huge area. There is some enforcement but I don’t think there are enough enforcement officers across East Riding as a whole to deal with these things.”
An East Riding of Yorkshire Council spokesperson said: “We are aware of the residents’ concerns. Any changes to parking restrictions in Hessle will be aligned with the Hessle public realm scheme, which is currently at the design stage”.
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