Flitwick Parking Study

Flitwick Town Council is concerned about the growing problem of cars parking all day in residential streets, which can cause nuisance and safety issues. A survey carried out in June 2006 revealed that as many as 300 cars could be parked all day during weekdays for non-residential purposes.

Two methods of traffic restrictions can be used to keep all-day parking out of residential streets, as described below.

As well as using additional parking restrictions, the County Council is exploring ways of increasing the capacity of the railway station car park. In addition, consideration is being given to providing more cycle parking at the station, and providing combined bus and train tickets to encourage travel to the station by means other than cars.  

A leaflet has been delivered to every house in Flitwick describing the proposed additional parking restrictions.

Proposals leaflet|

The consultation period ran from Friday 2 March until Saturday 7 April and a permanent exhibition was available at Flitwick Library from Friday 2 March until Saturday 24 March.

Pdf's versions of the Exhibition boards|

A public report on the Parking Study| (new window) was published at the end of May.

Flitwick Parking Proposals 

After consultation, Orders are being published for parking restrictions using TROs and Residents Parking Streets. The streets with the various parking restrictions are shown in the Orders| (new window) being shown on notices in the town during August 2007.

Methods of preventing all-day parking

Where parking is not prohibited at all times of the day for safety reasons (using double yellow lines), there are two methods of controlling parking that would be appropriate to prevent all-day parking on streets in Flitwick. The first is by using Traffic Regulation Orders(TROs), and the second is by using Residents Parking Streets (RPSs).

With TROs, signs and single yellow lines are used to indicate the times of day during which parking is prohibited, as is currently the case in some Flitwick streets. The times of day will be set following consultation. However, it is inevitable that the need to prevent all-day parking will mean some times of day when residents will not be permitted to park, causing some inconvenience. Residents do not pay for this means of parking control.

In an RPS only vehicles displaying a valid permit can park in marked parking bays. There is usually an annual fee to pay to cover the costs of administering the permits. Further payment will provide a permit for an additional vehicle.