Residents and businesses have been left divided over plans for a new parking permit scheme near Nottingham Forest's City Ground. Plans to extend the Peter Taylor Stand, which would increase the stadium capacity to 35,000, have been approved but workers in the area fear subsequent proposals for a permit scheme may prove a hindrance to their daily business.
The work at the City Ground in West Bridgford is estimated to cost of more than £94m and comes upon the Reds' promotion to the Premier League. Proposals reveal capacity for 5,000 additional fans and they were approved at a Rushcliffe Borough Council planning committee meeting at Rushcliffe Arena on Thursday, July 28.
Under the plans permits are being proposed for Fox Road and Radcliffe Road in West Bridgford, with concerns raised over dangerous parking as a result of increased capacity and the building of a nearby residential development for up to 170 residential units in a 13-storey apartment block.
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Primarily the new permit scheme could come into force because the parking ratio is well below what is normally accepted by Nottinghamshire County Council, and councillors say the idea is to "stop future residents of the residential block parking on any adjoining street".
However Conservative councillor Neil Clarke, who sits on Rushcliffe Borough Council's planning committee and is the portfolio holder for transport, raised issue with the plans. He said: "Do I hear you correctly that you are including Radcliffe Road for parking permits? That has an immediate impact on the businesses and on people stopping and trading on the businesses along Radcliffe Road."
Sinan Catik, who works in the 'The Blue' convenience store in Radcliffe Road, echoed the concerns. He told Nottinghamshire Live: "Generally it is not really good for people and there is not a lot of space here.
"I see lots of times between 4pm-6pm, when you cannot park here or stop here, I see lots of people getting fines. Maybe six to ten. It is not good getting a fine for five to ten minutes, even some of my customers do.
"But when it is a big match it is good because of the big crowds in the rush hour. It is going to be a big change. Luckily it does not tend to affect us too much as we have spaces, but they can get full. And on matchdays they cone it off but some people still park."
And delivery driver Qaiser Sheikh said: "[The permit scheme] is already there in bits and bobs but I could get fined. I tend to driver to each stop so I don't have far to come back to my van.
"But [fines] come out of my pocket at the end of the day."
One woman, who visits her boyfriend in Lady Bay and asked to remain anonymous, agreed with the permit proposals. She added: "I know my boyfriend lives in Lady Bay and when it is football he cannot move his car.
"You cannot move your car so I think parking permits are good. For the local people I would imagine it is a good idea. But they need to be planning to make a Nottingham Forest car park. There is loads of land for them to do it on."
Rushcliffe Borough Council documents state: "It is considered that Traffic Regulations Orders are required on Fox Road/Radcliffe Road in order to manage overflow car parking from the proposed residential development and residential parking permit which would ensure that on-street parking along the streets closest to the application site are only used by local residents. The applicant agrees to the contributions totalling £80,000."
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