Ongoing parking problems in a busy residential area are getting worse, according to a concerned resident who fears "it's only a matter of time before somebody is injured".
Robert Austin, Liberal Democrat for the Kenton Focus Team, said urgent action is needed from Newcastle City Council to solve the continuous issue of parking in North Kenton, particularly in the streets surrounding the local retail park and Kenton Centre.
Robert said: "Some people are avoiding the area altogether and going elsewhere because it's so bad. One person said they nearly hit another car because there were cars parked up on both sides of the residential area and he was going down the road as another car was coming up.
"He had to brake and said it was a near miss. It's only a matter of time before somebody is injured."
"People are also worried in case an emergency vehicle needs to come, if one of the houses is on fire or somebody has taken ill. There's no way that the emergency services would get to them.", he added.
When ChronicleLive reported on the issue in July 2019, the council set out a number of proposals in the hope of easing traffic in the area. This included setting up a limited waiting restriction scheme to help remove all day parking, introducing double yellow lines in various locations and making the disabled parking bay 'legally enforceable' to deter non-blue-badge holders to park.
Further proposals included reminding NHS staff at the Kenton Centre that when they do park that they show consideration for residents of Hillsview Ave and Carnforth Green and encouraging staff who work in the centre to use public transport.
However, Robert claims that nothing has been done to address the problem and it is becoming progressively worse. He added that a number of actions need to taken, such as extending the car park at Kenton Centre to allow enough space for staff to park at work, and parking restrictions to be enforced in Kenton Retail car park to provide fairer parking for people accessing local shops and prevent cars being "abandoned" in the area.
He added: "More people are parking around the area and it's more dangerous. There's a lot more cars using the doctors and the shops and some people have said they're going to avoid the shops because of it.
"People are shopping elsewhere and local businesses really need the custom of local people, especially given the time we're in now, instead of losing them due to matters that are out of their control."
"I think it's important that the council does something so this doesn't have a knock on effect of businesses losing out custom based on the parking.
"We were promised that something would happen and it hasn't and over time it's got progressively worse."
Newcastle Council said it is aware of parking issues in the area and is now working on a revised scheme which they will consult on in the coming weeks. They added that the proposals set out in 2019 received a number of objections and were therefore not implemented.
A Newcastle City Council spokesperson said: "Measures to address traffic management issues around North Kenton shops were consulted on in 2019, which received a number of objections so were not implemented. We are aware of parking issues in this area being raised again and are proposing a revised scheme which we will consult on in the coming weeks.
"We would encourage people to report any issues with parking to parking@newcastle.gov.uk."
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