November 19, 2020 3.10 pm This story is over 40 months old

Hartsholme “losing beauty” because of churned mud

They need to come up with solutions and funding
The council wants to solve the issue of cars parking on grass verges. | Photo: supplied

A Lincoln estate is starting to lose its beauty because of cars churning grass verges into mud, say ward councillors.

Members of the City of Lincoln Council are looking to tackle parking issues in the Hartsholme area in a pilot initiative which could spread further if successful.

The City of Lincoln Council’s Lincoln Tenants Panel wants to launch a survey initially to tackle parking on grass verges.

It follows issues caused by a lack of parking spaces, also including blocked roads and junctions.

Options include:

  • Barriers
  • New parking bays
  • Tree, bush and wildflower planting
  • New signage from the county council
  • New residents parking schemes
  • Greater enforcement

The issue is churning the grass into mud.

Hartsholme ward Labour Councillor Biff Bean said it wasn’t the residents’ fault, but a need for vehicles, a lack of parking options, small roads and “chockablock” parking.

“I have lived on this estate all my life, the roads are quite intricate and that all makes for a problematic situation,” he said.

“The estate is starting to lose its beauty because the grass is getting churned up and there’s mud everywhere.”

He said the problem was exacerbated by increasing anti-social behaviour leading to people people being “reluctant to park away from their residences because they can’t keep an eye on their cars.”

Previous funding, which looked to build parking bays, had dried up.

Parking can be “chockablock” at times. | Photo: supplied

He suggested the potential of creating communal secure tarmac parking areas.

However, he warned against turning the area into a “concrete jungle” fearing the impact on mental health and comparing it to areas between the football ground and South Park

Conservative ward councillor Ronald Hills said “ongoing” parking issues included “controversy around the school spaces for pick-up and parking”.

He said there was scope for off-road parking and creative use of land, for example around the ABC flats.

Previous efforts had been made to create hard standing areas, but the funding dried up.

“If you’re a disabled pensioner living on the ground floor, the nearest you can get is a considerable distance and that’s exacerbated by the school/academy parking, which basically chocks up the area.

“They don’t need a survey, they know what the problem is, we know what the problem is.

“We don’t need a committee or specialist report, we just need some options that utilise the ground there.”

For example, he suggested expanding hard standing outside Hartsholme Academy.

A successful pilot scheme could be rolled out across the rest of the city.

Councillors will vote on the plans at the authority’s policy scrutiny committee on Tuesday.