Hundreds of people sign petition for crackdown on dangerous parking in Sheffield

Ann Woolhouse presented the petition during a virtual full council meeting this week.

She said poor parking around Rother Valley Country Park was causing problems for residents and visitors.

Ms Woolhouse said: “This is mainly due to the car park that is maintained by Sheffield Council and is in poor condition which is mostly why people don’t go down there to park, it is also too small for purpose.

“I have spoken to residents in the area and they are particularly concerned about the parking. Although they say it is exacerbated by Covid, in the summer it is just as bad if not worse.

“They are particularly worried about the houses where they drive straight onto the road. The way people park up there, they can’t get clear visibility to come out onto the road and feel it is an accident waiting to happen.

“I also spoke to a lady with a disabled daughter who has a wheelchair, she used to go to the park quite regularly but now feels that she can’t because the cars also park onto the pavement and she can’t get the wheelchair down there and she feels it’s too dangerous to push it onto the road.”

Councillor Julie Grocutt, cabinet member for transport, said the council will take action and work with park keepers and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council on a long-term solution.

She said: “I have already met with local councillor Chris Rosling-Josephs, Clive Betts the MP and local residents to listen and understand some of the issues they are facing.

“The ambition is to develop a joined up, coherent, multidisciplinary plan to minimise the impact on local residents while improving the traffic management and options for short-term parking to visit the park.

“Officers are currently investigating funding options to deliver an effective plan and the expectation is the transport planning resource to develop and deliver the final plan is available to begin work on this project in mid-Spring.

“In the meantime, we continue to work with the safer neighbourhoods policing team to tackle the dangerous parking prior to any changes.”

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