Dad pleads for action as parking problems drive customers and businesses away from Kelham Island

At a full council meeting, the chief executive told members that she had received 3,836 signatures on an online petition that is calling on the local authority to “eliminate unnecessary double yellow lines in the Neepsend area of Sheffield”.

Lead petitioner Nick White addressed the council and told the chamber that he spoke on behalf of his two daughters who have had a salon in Kelham Island since 2017.

Mr White said parking “has always been a bit of an issue” in the area but since the “implementation of a new access and parking arrangements the position has been made much worse”.

He said: “Apparently, there are at least 200 less parking spaces on the streets now.”

Mr White added the scheme was not complete yet so the final outcome of the new arrangements is yet to be seen.

However, during the transition period, Mr White continued, business owners they were talking to in the area have had a “40 per cent downturn in trade” – he mentioned the new bus gate on Rutland Road as one of the main reasons for that.

He said another issue is that clients and staff of his daughters’ salon have to park far away on backstreets and during dark hours they have to walk long distances on these streets which is a safety issue.

Mr White said the council should celebrate the Kelham Island area but because of struggling businesses, developers may stay away from it – this could result in new businesses staying away too as well as existing businesses moving out.

He said a lot of commuters just park their cars in Kelham Island and walk to town.

Mr White said: “Ideally, there should be a car park somewhere around Kelham Island that’s large enough to take the necessary load of parking.”

In response, Cllr Ben Miskell, the chair of the transport, regeneration and climate policy committee, said the council understood the concerns around the previous arrangement “of uncontrolled parking” in Kelham Island.

He also mentioned a description of the situation by a business owner who said it was a race to get to those free parking spaces first in the morning – leaving those with late shifts or residents who leave the area and want to come back with no parking availability.

He said the changes proposed to formalise where people should park and where they shouldn’t park while permits are available for eligible businesses and residents.

Cllr Miskell said: “Similar parking schemes have been proven to increase turnover parking spaces for vehicles and therefore provide greater levels of availability in parking spaces and access for people living, working and visiting the area.”

He said the council had already introduced a more flexible approach to issuing permits for businesses, they changed the operational hours for pay and display; added 20 minutes of free parking and to boost the nighttime economy introduced a special evening flat rate of £2 after 4.30pm from Monday to Saturday and all day on Sunday.

He added the council was working on their active travel project that is planned to “significantly improve cycling, walking and wheeling” as well as public transport links for residents, businesses and visitors of the area.