Frustrated Sheffield residents say there is no end in sight to their parking problems
Disappointment over council refusal to install double yellow lines
Sheffield residents say they are still suffering from parking problems on their narrow road with no end in sight.
Castle Croft Drive in Norfolk Park, which is a private housing estate, is usually crowded with cars all day. Vehicles take advantage of free parking close to the city centre and to the main campus of Sheffield College on the opposite side of Granville Road.
Pavements are often blocked, forcing people with pushchairs or wheelchairs into the road. Sometimes inconsiderate parking blocks residents’ cars in their drives and delivery drivers and tradespeople struggle to visit.
Residents also say that the main entrance is routinely obstructed twice a day by drivers dropping off or picking up students at All Saints Catholic High School.
They have campaigned in the past for a parking permit scheme but this was rejected by Sheffield City Council.
One resident, who has asked not to be named, said that the hopes of people living on the road were raised again in May during the run-up to council elections. Manor Castle ward Labour candidate Michael Chilton suggested that double yellow lines could solve the issue.
However, this possibility turned out to be short-lived. The council said the scheme would not be rated a high enough priority.
The resident said she was frustrated by how the process worked.
“Michael Chilton put in an application for double yellow lines that’s been refused because we didn’t score enough points,” the resident said.
“The council officer came to look at the estate during the school holidays because she understood issues were about the school.
“She came to the conclusion that all the cars parked on the estate belonged to residents because our parking spaces are too small.”
The resident said that in fact commuters begin arriving early to park, followed later by college students. The top end of Castle Croft Drive near Granville Road is often full by 7.30am.
She was told there is no appeal process against the decision.
The resident said that ironically the issue being highlighted during the election campaign had drawn more people’s attention to free parking near the city centre.
She said residents are grateful that police now patrol on a regular basis. They send out warning notices before issuing fines to repeat offenders.
The area also suffers from anti-social behaviour in the evenings with people parking up to drink or take substances.
“Really we just want our estate to be safe,” the resident said.
“Everyone who comes on here says ‘this is terrible’ but nothing happens.”
A spokesman for Sheffield City Council said that it has to score and prioritise double yellow line requests based on what would benefit the city as a whole.
The council uses specific criteria, including business access for deliveries and operational needs such as blocked car parks, when reaching a decision.
If an area scored highly enough, or funding became available through an alternate source such as a Local Area Committee (LAC), the council would still need to assess the best location to install parking restrictions.
On residential estates, it’s not feasible to put double yellow lines on every stretch of road where it’s not sensible to park. Individual drivers are responsible for parking safely and legally.
Parking control schemes are usually installed on an area-wide basis rather than on individual streets. Targeting individual streets can cause parking displacement, which pushes vehicles on to surrounding streets.
The spokesman said the council is looking at how it manage parking schemes and parking displacement.
A revised policy should be considered by the transport, regeneration and climate policy committee early in 2027.