Parking permits to go paperless - and suspicious neighbours can check on vehicles online
Parking permits in Norwich have gone paperless - but people can check if vehicles have them online. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY - Credit: Copyright: Archant 2016
Neighbours suspicious of vehicles parked near their homes can now find out if they are entitled to be there by going online, following a switch to paperless parking permits in Norwich.
Gail Harris, Norwich City Council cabinet member with responsibility for customer services. Pic: Archant Library. - Credit: Submitted
Norwich City Council’s vehicle-specific parking permits have gone virtual, meaning the council will no longer issue physical permits.
The council says it will cut paper use and costs, and the time people wait for new permits.
The change also means people who suspect illegal parking in their streets can check online to see if vehicles have valid permits.
If they do not, and are not displaying appropriate visitor permits, they can report them to the council.
Parking permits in Norwich are going paperless. Photo: Denise Bradley. - Credit: Archant © 2008
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At the moment, anyone who wants to park in any of the city’s controlled parking zones (CPZ) needs to display a permit.
It can take up to five working days to apply for and receive a new permit in the post, but City Hall says the new virtual permit system, once fully up and running, will bring that down to two working days.
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With up to 13,000 vehicle-specific permits, which can range from £1 to £1.50 for the cost of paper alone, the council says it will also save money.
Gail Harris, cabinet member with responsibility for customer services, said: “This move to virtual permits is just another in a long list of projects we’ve championed to make the switch to digital.
“These projects range from ordering a repair on council homes to applying for business grants and making local land charge searches.
“We want to make accessing our services as easy as possible and this change is made with that ambition in mind.
“There are also considerable financial and environmental benefits to going paperless so this new system ticks all sorts of boxes for us.”
Drivers using visitor permits and the scratchcard system will need to continue displaying those, although the council is looking into how they could go virtual in the future.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the council recently automatically extended all parking permits, except season tickets, that were valid on March 23 this year for three months, for free.
To apply for a new permit, click here or to check if a car is parked without a valid permit, click here.
