Residents' parking schemes

About residents' parking schemes

A residents’ parking scheme is a form of controlled parking on a street or area in order to help residents park their vehicles. They are provided in areas where vehicles not belonging to residents are making this difficult.

Residents’ parking schemes are legally controlled parking zones where parking is only permitted for vehicles displaying a valid resident or visitor’s permit that is issued by the County Council. 

Schemes are typically used where demand for on-street parking exceeds the road space available and this excess demand is caused by the vehicles of non-residents or their visitors. 

There are thirty residents’ parking schemes currently in the County, covering a total of 474 streets. These schemes are typically in or near town centres where the cost and availability of parking otherwise would displace vehicles into nearby residential areas.

Permits cost £41 a year for resident’s or visitors permits with concessions for the over 75’s and Blue Badge holders. With a valid permit, residents can park within the restricted area. Drivers without a permit can pick up and drop off passengers and make deliveries but cannot leave their cars within the zones. 

They are introduced in locations where they will help deliver local transport and corporate objectives.

To apply for a new permit 

email permits.parking@nottscc.gov.uk and provide us with the following details;

  • your name, address and daytime telephone number
  • address where the permit is required
  • moving date (if applicable)
  • full names of all residents requiring a permit and their vehicle details (make and registration number)

Each adult resident is entitled to one permit for their vehicle.

We will call you when the permits are created to take payment and activate the permits. Call backs are usually within 24 hours of receipt of the email except at weekends. You will be charged £41 for each permit issued. Free permits are available to permit holders who are 75 years of age or older or are also a Blue Badge holder. 

In most areas of Nottinghamshire, you will receive a physical permit to display in your vehicle. We are now trialling ‘virtual’ permits that simply log the vehicle details in the Enforcement Officers devices so there is no need to display anything. Applicants will be advised when calling which option applies.

In the meantime, please be aware that if you park within the residents parking zone without a valid permit, you are likely to receive Penalty Charge Notices on your vehicle.

Renew a permit

This service is for residents who have received a residents' parking permit renewal letter and are renewing their permit online.

You will need:

  • a current and valid permit
  • a renewal letter from the Council which contains your unique web-code.
  • a current and valid credit or debit card to make payment.

There will be a charge of £41 per permit.

Renew your parking permit

Free permits are available to vehicle-owning residents who are either Blue Badge holders, or are aged 75 or over. Where applicable, a free visitor’s permit can also be issued to each household with a resident aged 75 or over or who holds a valid Blue Badge.

What will happen next?

Once we have received your completed form and checked your details, we will aim to send a replacement permit within five working days. Please allow enough time for the replacement permit to arrive.

In the meantime, please be aware that if you park within the residents parking zone without a valid permit, you are likely to receive Penalty Charge Notices on your vehicle.

Alternative ways to do this

You can also download a parking permit renewal form [Word] and return it by post.

Please return completed forms to:

Central Processing Unit 
PO Box 10282 
Nottinghamshire 
NG17 0DX

Please mark the envelope "Permit Application" and allow up to 7 working days for applications to be processed.

Terms and conditions for parking

Hours of operation

The hours of operation vary according to each zone. Generally, schemes operate during the working day from Monday to Saturday. The times of operation are shown on the signs for drivers entering the residents' parking scheme area 

During this period, most spaces are reserved for resident permit holders and sometimes, visitor permit holders. Occasionally, limited waiting spaces are available to visit local businesses. 

Permit holders

The permit allows you to park in any parking spaces which are reserved for permit holders.  

A permit does not though guarantee that a parking space will always be available for you or that you can park directly outside your house.  You are not allocated a particular space. 

It is your duty to ensure: 

  • your permit is valid for the scheme area in which you are parking.
  • your permit has not expired.
  • the registration number on your permit is correct.
  • your permit is used in accordance with the conditions of issue.
  • the permit is clearly displayed within the windscreen of the vehicle - unless it is a 'virtual' permit.

A permit may be withdrawn or invalidated if: 

  • it is found that a permit is not being used in accordance with these guidelines 
  • it is found that a person is no longer eligible to hold a permit 
  • the permit is altered or defaced in any way or passed to unauthorised users. 

Warning: Any person knowingly making a false statement to fraudulently obtain a permit is liable to a fine not exceeding £2,500 (section 115/2 Road Traffic Act 1984).

Visitors

Depending on the type of scheme, visitor permits may be issued. A visitor must display a visitor permit whilst parking within the controlled zone.  

If you are visiting an area and do not have a permit you can only park where there are unrestricted spaces.  If you park in a controlled zone without displaying a visitor permit you may receive a parking fine (Penalty Charge Notice). 

Further contact details

If your enquiry hasn’t been answered in the sections above, you can contact the Central Processing Unit: 0115 804 0314 

Information and advice on requesting new permit schemes or removing schemes

Please refer to the following frequently asked questions below:

A permit costs £41 annually for a resident’s permit. 

In most schemes, each property is also entitled to purchase a visitor’s permit for £41.

Permits are free for blue badge holders, and free for residents over age 75. A health worker’s permit is also available to allow carers and social workers an hour of free parking in any residential area in Nottinghamshire. There are also permits available for tradespeople. 

The income from the permits pays towards the costs of operating the scheme. Like many Local authorities, Nottinghamshire has implemented a permit fee to cover these direct additional costs of introducing, maintaining and administering the scheme. The permit charges therefore enable the Council to run the schemes in a financially sustainable way.

 

We receive many requests for residents' parking schemes, and we consider these against several criteria before responding.

Firstly, we need to understand what the problem is and how severe it is. We would not consider a scheme where the parking problem is largely caused by the residents themselves as a residents area would not resolve that. And we also need to assess what parking opportunities residents have other than the highway. In streets where most residents have off-street parking, we would not ordinarily consider a residents parking scheme, but we could examine other restrictions if on-street parking causes road safety problems.

We would encourage residents who want us to consider a  new residents’ parking scheme to engage and work with other local residents and their local County Councillor at the earliest opportunity. The opinions of those people directly affected are very important if we progress any scheme.

How to make a request

To request that your street is considered for a residents' parking scheme you need to make a request using our highways request form.

Make a new highways request


Alternative ways to do this

Alternatively, you can contact us by post: 

Highways Office 
VIA East Midlands Ltd 
Bilsthorpe Depot 
Bilsthorpe Business Park 
Bilsthorpe 
Nottinghamshire 
NG22 8ST 

As opposed to schemes initiated when requested by residents, some schemes are introduced as a consequence of significant local development.

When a development such as a supermarket or a sports arena is built in a residential area a planning condition can be put in place to address any issues with parking that may arise. This can lead to a plan to establish a new scheme to protect resident parking nearby.

A scheme though, can be implemented if there is significant support from residents following the consultation process

Where a local resident has proposed a new scheme, they will be able to receive status updates regarding the progress of their proposal.

As we need to assess the problem against our criteria, carefully consider any unforeseen issues such as displaced parking elsewhere and ensure our proposal has the support of residents, the process could take anything up to two years.

Informal consultation phase

This informal consultation phase was added to the Policy due to the risk that a new scheme could cause displacement of the parking problem. Displacement moves a parking problem to just outside the boundaries of a scheme. This happens because cars will park on the closest street that does not have a parking restriction. For this reason, the team informally consults with residents who live in the area experiencing the problem and in the peripheral areas where more cars would likely begin parking if the scheme were to be implemented. 

The informal consultation process consists of a questionnaire that is sent out to residents who live in the relevant areas. The Council’s Highway Network Management Plan requires the consultation to generate a minimum 35% response rate with at least 65% of these responses being in favour of the scheme. Many schemes fail at this phase of the process because they do not generate enough support from residents.

The informal consultation process offers an opportunity to expand schemes before they come into force if this is desired by residents. At the informal consultation phase, any feedback from residents can be used to adjust the scheme before the process moves into the formal consultation phase. Proposed schemes often change significantly as a result of the feedback received in the initial consultation phase. 

Even though the Service consults with residents in the wider area about the risk of displacement, residents in areas not experiencing the problem are less supportive of a scheme that will have a financial cost to them. The Council does not impose a scheme where this is not wanted by residents. If displacement does occur later and a new scheme is then desired in the nearby area, the process of assessment, signoff and consultation will start again.

Additional supporting materials such as petitions will help us understand local concerns. From that, if the proposal meets the criteria to progress, we will then develop an informal consultation exercise with the affected area and any adjacent streets we consider may be affected by displaced parking.

If residents believe that the scheme is no longer required, they can request an amendment or removal if the original reason for implementation is no longer relevant. As with the new schemes, a petition of affected households showing support for this would be a very helpful starting point. 

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