A MAJOR update has been given on 'controversial' Stroud parking plans. 

Last year the SNJ revealed how Gloucestershire County Council was planning to make householders pay for permits to park in residential streets.

During the formal consultation period nearly 100 people - including several councillors - attended a meeting at the Crown & Sceptre pub to discuss the plans, expressing their vociferous opposition to them. 

Under the plans, residents in 56 roads would have needed to buy permits at £61.80 a year for one vehicle and £123.60 for a second while traders would have to fork out £320 per permit.

However, the plans have now been scrapped, with a council spokesperson saying that there was 'clearly no mandate for them to move forward with a resident parking scheme in Stroud'. 

They said: “Throughout the process of informal and formal consultation those who took part were overwhelmingly against the scheme.

"It's important that we listen to those who take part in these exercises and clearly there is no mandate for us to move forward with a resident parking scheme in Stroud.

"We thank those who took part in both exercises.

“Going forward, we plan to implement a range of traffic management measures in the area to improve safety and visibility including refreshing road lining."

The proposals included merging existing permit zones, 1, 2, and Lansdown Zone, and extending these to include new areas creating a new zone called Stroud Zone A.

The new zone would have included a combination of parking permit areas, shared use bays and the introduction of no waiting at any time (double yellow lines).

The areas included in these changes include the eastern section of Stroud.

This includes roads such as, Bowbridge Lane, Bisley Road, Castle Street, Middle Street, through to Slad Road, Folly Lane and Springfield Road.

In the informal consultation between November 8 and December 17 2021, 4489 letters were sent, with 1270 responses. 

Of those 1270 responses, 71 per cent were against the permit charges, 21 per cent were in favour, six per cent were undecided and two per cent did not respond. 

In the formal Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) process consultation, which took place between March 29 and May 2 last year (2023), there were 4173 visits to the website. 

There were 1045 formal responses with 86 per cent objecting to the scheme, 12 per cent in favour and a further two per cent with no view expressed.