Norwich pensioners win reprieve on visitor parking

SHAUN LOWTHORPE
27 November 2009 17:06



Pensioners living in a Norwich sheltered housing scheme have secured a partial reprieve on plans to strip them of visitor parking permits.

Norwich City Council mistakenly gave residents at Ashby Court, off Queen's Road, visitor parking permits when it opened in 2004.

The error, which meant they had been issued with 22 visitors' permits, was only unearthed this year by a resident complaining about parking problems in the area.

On Thursday, members of the Norwich Joint Highways Committee considered five options including stripping them of the permits or letting them continue.

But Harold Grievseson, 73, who lives at Ashby Court with his wife Greta, told the committee if the council took the permits away completely then carers and relatives would have trouble visiting their loved ones.

“We were assured there would be plenty of parking available here,” he said.

Labour's Bert Bremner said: “These people have been given the right to park here and perhaps we should just accept that situation.”

But members settled agreed on a compromise put forward by the pensioners and ward councillor Stephen Little, to issue them five visitor permits for use between them.

Mr Little said: “All this has understandably caused a lot of upset to the residents and this was a suggestion first put forward by them.”

Transport chiefs were yesterday accused of excluding disable people from a consultation on proposed transport changes in Norwich. Lib Dem city councillor Judith Lubbock groups including people using mobility scooters were not given a proper say on far-reaching schemes planned as part of the Transport for Norwich strategy.

Officers conceded more could have been done but said they hoped to canvass the views of the disabled later in the process through a citizens' panel.

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