Sheffield residents say parking problems cause them stress and worry – “it’s horrid”

The residents of Castle Croft Drive, Norfolk Park launched an online petition to Sheffield City Council, calling for a permit scheme because of high levels of parking on their road, which the majority have now signed.

They say that much of this is due to students at the nearby Sheffield College Granville Road campus parking on their road.

Residents say that pavements are often blocked by parked cars, forcing pedestrians on to the road, and their road is also dangerously narrowed, meaning emergency vehicles may not be able to get through.

A bin lorry has found its way blocked before and had to reverse out.

All the houses have driveways but residents say these are often blocked or restricted by inconsiderate parking. Some drivers have been abusive – one called a resident a “f***ing c***” when she asked him to move his car.

Worry

Three residents, who have asked not to be named, described the issues they face.

One resident said that the parking issues are a constant worry as her daughter has a life-limiting illness.

She said: “We need access to our drive day and night as we have to take our daughter to A&E at any point due to her conditions. Due to the terrible parking, we often struggle to get out the drive due to overhanging parking and inconsiderate parking opposite.

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“My mother is 77 and physically disabled who can’t walk far and she picks my son up from school who often struggles to park on my drive or get out of it due to the parking.

“Every day we are unable to let my son out on his bike due to the risk to him because of the terrible parking. We have a lovely community and he used to go out with kids from round the block but we daren’t let him any more.”

She added: “I was verbally abused outside my home by five lads who I asked to move their car so I could get my car out as they told me they wouldn’t move their car and that I was an ‘f-ing c***’. This has been reported to the police.

Depressing

“Life in our street has become so bad due to the parking with the anti-social behaviours, not being able to walk my dogs and my children on the pavement and in the road because of the parking, it is just depressing.

“Cars parked so close to my kitchen window with their booming music, vaping and McDonald’s litter, it’s horrid.”

Two other residents discussed the problems affecting them and neighbours.

One said: “I was nearly knocked over twice and I told the driver ‘you know you’ll end up ruining your life’. Our kids play around here – they only just have to step out into the road.”

She added: “I have lived here from the start, I bought my house from the plan. To be fair it’s quiet, apart from on college days.

“It’s a lovely place to live, you’ve got a lovely community but obviously from the beginning there were problems.”

Champion

She said that when parking issues were first raised, the council said that the residents shouldn’t worry, they would get a parking scheme, they just needed to go through a process. She said: “They have been on here, they have seen it.”

She said that they felt everything changed after the death in December 2022 of Anne Murphy, who was one of their ward councillors: “Anne Murphy was a real champion of ours, she was really pushing it.”

She said that councillors and officials visited in November 2022 to see the problems for themselves. “One of the councillors said: ‘We’re going to do it, it isn’t a problem, we’ll sort it. Don’t worry, it’ll pass, it’s nothing to put a residents’ parking scheme on here’.”

The other resident said she was shocked when she saw a ward councillor describing their problems at a later meeting that she watched online as an ‘urban myth’. “Then we got a letter saying they weren’t going to do anything at all at Park Hill.”

She added: “We were part of Park Hill parking scheme and there were loud voices against that, we were really victims of that in the end.”

They say they now feel abandoned by the council and their councillors.

Sensible

The first resident said: “A couple of neighbours in our lovely community have moved because of the parking.”

They constantly report incidents of bad parking, using the police Operation Park Safe scheme.

“I don’t think any of us have got a problem with sensible parking,” said the first resident, “but it isn’t sensible parking. I missed my father-in-law’s memorial service because somebody blocked my drive, we couldn’t get out, it’s things like that.”

She said she called the police and they came out and got the car moved within an hour but it was too late by then. “I remember telling the police I’m so sorry for phoning for this but what do we do?”

Her friend said: “We don’t want to be phoning the police, we’ve got better things to be doing than that.”

The other said: “Drivers have blocked the pavement opposite someone who has a wheelchair. They’d got to go straight into the road because they’re blocking the pavements.”

Congregate

The residents say that parents picking up students at All Saints Catholic High School congregate near the junction with Granville Road, as it is opposite the school entrance.

One said she never makes appointments at that time of day, unless she is walking, as her exit is blocked by the cars.

They say they have reported problems to both the college and the school but nothing has changed.

Residents also report anti-social behaviour that takes place, involving drivers but also people who drive up to congregate at the viewpoint on their road, where there is a bench on a patch of green that overlooks the city centre.

“People come to the bench and have sex and take drugs and there’s all their litter around,” said one resident.

A spokesman for Sheffield City Council made the following points:

• Residents in the Park Hill area of Sheffield were consulted on a permit parking scheme in March 2022.
• Of the 1,088 responses to the consultation the council received, 905 objected to the plans, including some residents of Castle Croft Drive.
• Sheffield City Council also received a petition with 2,145 signatures against the scheme.
• Many of the objections received commented that the proposed project was too large.
• A new proposal with a smaller boundary, including Castle Croft Drive, was presented to the transport, regeneration and climate committee on June 15, 2023.
• The committee decided not to implement the proposal for a smaller parking scheme.
• Following the decision residents and businesses were informed that the parking scheme would not be revisited in the near future.

Neighbour

Andrew Hartley, deputy chief executive at The Sheffield College, said: “We are sorry to hear about residents’ concerns. We strive to be a good neighbour and expect our students to be respectful to others on and off campus.

“The majority of City Campus students use public transport. A small number of our students travel by car.

“Given how busy the area is, it is unclear whether all of the issues involve our students. However, we are committed to working with the community and partner organisations on the matters raised.”

All Saints School has also been approached for comment.