September 20, 2011 4.58 pm This story is over 150 months old

Council to introduce trader parking permits

Pay up: Traders in the city carrying out work in areas covered by resident parking permits will have to apply for a permit too.

The City of Lincoln Council agreed to introduce charges for traders using parking bays in areas covered by the Resident Parking Scheme (RPS).

The new Trade Permits will be issued by the council after tradesmen apply and pay either £5 for two working days, or £10 for a full week.

There are currently 18 zones covered by Resident Parking Scheme.

The move comes after some Lincoln residents complained that traders were accessing properties within RPS to carry out work.

Traders had to either use a visitor permit, or residents had to notify traffic wardens in advance, the councils’ Rod Williamson explained in a report:

“Clearly this situation has the potential to cause a lot of frustration from nearby residents who find their RPS spaces filled by tradespersons who are not displaying a permit, or contributing financially towards the cost of the RPS.

“For example, the hand-written note on the dashboard of a commercial van stating ‘working at no. 6’, does not provide any transparency to the residents within the scheme.

“It takes up an undue amount of the Traffic Warden’s time seeking verification from residents about their trades visitors.”

There won’t initially be a cap on the number of Trade Permits given by the City Council, but a limit could be proposed a year after their introduction.

Each applicant for a Trade Permit must confirm which property they are working
on, and multiple permit requests for one property will be considered.

For residents, the first parking permit costs £26 per year, while subsequent tickets (or for multiple occupancy houses) cost £52 each.

Visitors in Lincoln can also buy a 10-days ticket for £17.

Related Report: Lincolnshire Echo