Newland Street parking

After having campaigned against the proposed changes, the Town Council is pleased to see that the North Essex Parking Partnership has recommended that they should not be implemented.

NEPP state that -

During the public consultation, over 250 individual responses were received. In addition, Witham Town Council submitted over 800 signatures to a petition against the scheme.

The NEPP carried out thematic coding on these responses, identifying six key themes:

• Impact on local businesses/high street vitality,

• Charging/revenue concerns,

• Digital exclusion (apps/machines/technical barriers),

• Accessibility concerns (elderly/disabled/mobility),

• Adequacy of existing system (“works well already”),

• Concerns regarding parking turnover/space availability.

Taken together, these themes indicate limited community support for a shift from limited waiting to paid parking, significant concern about the impact on local trading environments, and strong preference for retaining the current model across all three locations.